The Kakhovka dam that sits on the Dnieper River, upstream of Kherson City in Khersonska Oblast. It’s reservoir held 18 cubic kilometers of water used for cooling the 5.7 GW Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and to irrigate areas of southern Ukraine and northern Crimea via the North Crimean Canal and Dnieper–Kryvyi Rih Canal.
In the morning of the 6th June, the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed, causing extensive flooding. Water levels in the reservoir had been at a 30 year high. Thousands of residents downstream were evacuated, and floods submerged several villages in Ukrainian- and Russian-controlled areas. Ukraine’s prosecutor general estimated that about 40,000 people located in Ukrainian- and Russian-controlled land were likely to be impacted by flooding.
Three weeks after the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, the massive flooding caused by the disaster has significantly receded, leaving behind devastation, an unconfirmed number of civilians killed and injured and a worsened humanitarian situation in areas already facing the dire consequences of the war. The disaster and the consequent depletion of the Kakhovka Reservoir have created enormous challenges for civilians to access drinking water and agricultural activities in southern Ukraine. Important concerns have been raised about the possibility of disease outbreaks caused by stagnant and contaminated water in areas where health services are extremely limited due to the widespread destruction caused by the war.
ACT Ukraine forum member HEKS/EPER proposes to support 2,000 most vulnerable people in the affected area.
