The Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station was destroyed

Water is already in Kherson, Crimea will be left without water again, under the threat of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe

As a result of the destruction of the dam of the Kakhovsky hydroelectric power station, an emergency discharge of water occurred, which threatens dozens of settlements on both banks of the Dnieper, tens of thousands of people need evacuation. Under the threat was the cooling system of the reactor of the largest Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Europe, as well as the supply of fresh water to the Crimea. The positions of the Russian military on the left bank of the Dnieper are already washed off with water, but experts do not see the point in undermining dams for both sides of the conflict. "Cold" tells the main thing about the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station.

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What happened?

Early on the morning of June 6, news about the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station appeared in the pro -Russian channels. The occupying authorities of the Kherson region, appointed by Russia, first denied information about the undermining and even called it “nonsense”, but later announced the destruction of the upper part of the hydroelectric power station “as a result of the shelling”.

The Ukrainian command of the southern group confirmed the accident at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, but insists that the Russians committed undermining. Ukrainian telegram channels dedicated to the Kherson region write about this, and publish photos and videos of destruction and stream of water. “It can be stated that the hydroelectric power station has suffered maximum destruction, but a part of the dam is still worth it,” writes the telegram channel “Nikolaev Vanek”. “Now we are observing how slowly the coastal points of both the right bank and the left.”

The Russian side reported that the speed of falling water level in the Kakhovsky reservoir is 12 centimeters per hour. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, at the same time, claims that the level of water falling is even higher: about 15 centimeters per hour.

“The left bank of the Dnieper, like the left bank of any rivers in the Northern Hemisphere, is more gentle,” military researcher Kirill Mikhailov explains the cold. “The positions of Russians on the left bank are under a more serious threat now than the right bank that Ukraine controls.” He emphasizes that Russian dugouts were flooded earlier, even before the breakthrough of the hydroelectric power station. “In Kherson itself, there should also be flooding, but not so strong, since the right bank is higher,” Mikhailov emphasizes.

Residents of about 80 settlements of Kherson region are in danger of flooding: both Ukrainian and pro -Russian information channels recommend that they be evacuated urgently. President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.

Is there a threat to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant?

One of the most important and dangerous consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovsky hydroelectric power station is the threat of cooling of the systems of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. “Many experts said that the cooling of the reactors depends on the water that came from the Kakhovskoye hydroelectric station,” says Kirill Mikhailov. -If the level of the reservoir falls strongly, then water will not come for cooling, this can potentially lead to something like a reactor melt. There will be nothing good for ZAES. ”

The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrei Ermak called an accident at the Kakhovskaya hydrocycid. “The destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station is the largest man -made and technogenic disaster in the world over the past decades that kills the ecology and will have a negative impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in subsequent years,” says Yermak.

The "Energoatom" of Ukraine issued a statement that says that the reservoir will be able to work for another four days. The Ukrainian personnel monitor the state of the reservoir, but at the same time Energoatom reports that "an uncontrolled decrease in the level of the reservoir is an additional threat to the [nuclear power plant]."

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in its statement hastened to assure that the situation is under control and serious risks for the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The organization emphasized that agency experts are closely monitoring the development of the situation.

What will happen to water in the Crimea?

The authorities of the Crimea, the head of the Crimea, the head of the Crimea and Governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, assigned to Russia, say that there is no risk to the stock of fresh water in the Crimea due to the accident at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. “The city uses its own reservoir, water reserves at the maximum, there are also reserve water supply sources,” Razvozhaev said .

At the same time, Aksenov said: "There is a risk that the North Crimean Canal will be chasting." In his opinion, drinking water on the peninsula is more than enough. The Ukrainian authorities, on the contrary, predict a large problem with water supply in the Crimea. Mikhail Podolyak claims that the peninsula will lose drinking water.

The water supply of the peninsula is now coming from the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine stopped supplying water to the peninsula, as a result of which serious problems with fresh water began there. Prior to the annexation, Ukraine provided up to 85% of the needs of Crimea in water. In the spring of 2022, after the capture of the Kherson region, the Russian authorities resumed the filling of the North Crimean Canal from the Dnieper.

What will be the consequences for local residents?

The pro -Russian authorities of the Kherson region so far retain a calm tone of messages. “The hydraulic structure is built in such a way that the discharge of water is impossible at once, so the situation is not critical,” the local “military-civil administration” reassures local residents. At the same time, they report a possible future evacuation and ask residents to "observe the rise of water."

Nevertheless, several settlements on the right bank of the Dnieper are already flooded . According to the head of the Ukrainian Kherson Regional Administration, Alexander Prokudin, the Ukrainian authorities have already organized the evacuation of local residents. The settlements of the Kherson region are de -energized for security purposes, and gas supply will be disconnected in the near future. Prokudin said that 16 thousand people were in the critical zone of flooding on the right bank. How many people remain on the Left Bank is unknown.

In Kherson, writes the telegram channel “Nikolaev Vanek”, there is a counter-battery struggle: “[Russians] cover their unplanned evacuation of ammunition and personnel.”

What are the versions of what happened?

The pro -Russian authorities of the Kherson region insist that the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station was destroyed as a result of missile strikes from Ukraine. “The Ukrainian Armed Forces hit the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, as a result of which the upper part of the hydraulic engineering structure was damaged,” such a message was published at 8 in the morning in the telegram channel of the military-citizenship of the Kherson region. At the same time, Vladimir Saldo, who serves as the acting governor of the Kherson region, issued his statement only at 11 in the morning, before that for several hours he did not comment on the situation at all.

The representative of the southern Ukrainian defense unit Natalya Gumenyuk said "the hydroelectric power station was blown up by the invaders." Ukrhydroenergo claims that the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station was blown up by the Russian troops: “As a result of undermining the machine room from the inside, the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station was completely destroyed. The station is not subject to restoration. ”

Advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak on the air of Breakfast Show said that, according to preliminary data, the 205th motorized rifle part of the Russian Armed Forces carried out the detonation of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station.

Experts, however, are in no hurry to assign responsibility for the destruction of the dam on one of the parties to the conflict. Military analyst Ruslan Levieva believes that the dam of the Kakhovsky hydroelectric power station could collapse because of the damage that was caused to her as a result of hostilities earlier. “For either side or the other side, it makes no sense to undermine the dam. No one expected a new offensive by the RF Armed Forces through the Dnieper on Kherson. And to undermine the dam and to flood your own (RF Armed Forces) position on the left bank is some kind of Darwin award, ”he writes .

Leviev also refuted the information that the extended video with a detonation of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station is today: he wrote that the video was shot in November last year. In addition, he notes that today the dam is destroyed, and not the dam (in the dispersed video there is an explosion of the dam).

Military analyst Kirill Mikhailov agreed with Leviev: he told the cold that due to damage, huge water pressure and lack of proper service and repair, the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station could well be destroyed. “From a military point of view, Russian positions will be washed away, and Ukrainians will not be able to normally advance through the resulting swamp,” Mikhailov believes.

Nevertheless, the telegram channel “Nikolaev Vanek” wrote that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, intercepted by the data of Russian military conversations on the right bank of Kherson, they themselves are now in a state of panic and have no preliminary evacuation plan. According to the telegram channel, the Russian military did not calculate the forces, undermining the hydroelectric power station, and did not expect such a volume of destruction.

At the same time, Kirill Mikhailov says that if the Russians carried out the demolition of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, then their goal could be a slowdown in the Ukrainian offensive. “This place now in any case will be at least swampy and poorly suitable for crossing. The Russians could take this risk at the cost of losing their own positions on the left bank, ”Mikhailov believes. However, according to his assessment, this should not affect offensive actions in the southeast of the Donetsk region and Zaporozhye.