Destruction of Kakhovka HPP leaves thousands of hectares of farmland underwater, ruins irrigation systems

Preliminary estimates by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine suggest that approximately 10,000 hectares of agricultural land will be flooded on the right bank of Kherson region as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station committed by russian army on June 6. Several times more land will be flooded on the left bank of the region, which is currently temporarily occupied by russia.

Water supply to 31 irrigation systems in Dnipro, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions will be cut off.

In 2023, only 13 irrigation systems are operating on the right bank of the Dnieper. The explosion of the Kakhovka HPP basically left 94% of irrigation systems in Kherson, 74% in Zaporizhzhia, and 30% in Dnipropetrovsk regions without a water source.

The destruction of the Kakhovka HPP will turn fields in southern Ukraine into deserts as early as next year.

Without the Kakhovka Reservoir, not only agrarians and water users will be affected, but also the sources of drinking water supply for communities.

Around 2:30 a.m. on June 6, russian occupants blew up the engine room of the Kakhovka HPP. 11 out of 28 sections of the dam were destroyed. The estimated width of the breach is over 170 metres.