russia blows up the Kurakhovo dam: what will be the consequences for Ukraine (video)
12 November 18:04
EXCLUSIVE
On Monday, November 11, the Russian occupiers blew up the Kurakhivka dam. After it was damaged, water immediately began to flow to the settlements downstream of the Vovcha River.
The head of the Kurakhivka MVA said that so far, due to Russian shelling, it has not been possible to inspect the damage to the dam. The Russian occupiers have been trying to damage it for three months.
“We have not been able to go and inspect the dam. Water continues to arrive below the Ternivka dam. I contacted my colleagues. There is no critical situation, there are no flooded houses yet,” said the head of the MVA.
[Kommersant] together with ecologist and expert of the ANTS Network for the Protection of National Interests Oleg Lystopad analyzed the consequences of this terrorist attack by the Russian Armed Forces for the economy and environment of Ukraine.
What are the environmental consequences of the Kurakhivska dam explosion?
The expert noted that since the shelling is ongoing, it is impossible to send a team of environmental specialists to the site of the explosion to investigate what is happening. Therefore, nothing can be said for sure.
“We can only make assumptions. But it’s like guessing on coffee grounds,” said Lystopad.
He added that only satellite images remain as a means of assessing the damage caused by the occupiers.
“We will monitor who has such competence to monitor the water level using these satellites. Technology allows us to do this,” the expert said.
Dangers of blowing up the Kurakhivske reservoir dam
“As for the danger and the comparison with the Kakhovka HPP. It even sounds similar, and everyone starts throwing bridges at once. To do this, we need to compare the volumes. While the volume of the Kakhovka reservoir was 18 cubic kilometers, the volume of the Kurakhovo reservoir is 0.08 cubic kilometers. Therefore, there is no need to panic and shout that everything is lost,” the environmentalist reassured Ukrainians.
However, Oleh Lystopad clearly pointed out that the Russians have committed another environmental crime. If the water completely leaves the Kurakhivske reservoir, the consequences will be roughly the same as at the bottom of the Kakhovka reservoir: mollusks, algae, and fish will die.
The expert explained that one can criticize the water quality in this reservoir. We can say that it has high mineralization, which is twice as high as the norms. It is not very good for drinking water supply. One can criticize that the fish species that live there are not among the rare ones (they are mainly carp, white cupid, and silver carp). However, these are our fish, our shellfish, our algae, our water… No one gave them (the Russians – ed.) the right to dispose of our resources in the way they have done now.
How did the Russian armed forces manage to damage the reservoir dam?
Speaking about the technical side of the destruction of the Kurakhivske reservoir dam, Oleh Lystopad suggested that the Russians most likely targeted the dam with rocket-propelled grenades or other means and most likely damaged the lock.
What is known about the Kurakhivske reservoir
The Kurakhivske Reservoir is a reservoir on the Vovchya River (Samara and Dnipro River basins) in the Pokrovsk district of Donetsk region. The town of Kurakhove is located on the reservoir’s shore.
The reservoir was originally created to cool the Kurakhovo thermal power plant, which was built in the summer of 1934. The first power unit was put into operation on July 6, 1941.
The reservoir has a water surface area of 15.32 km² and a length of 40 km. The total volume is 62.5 million cubic meters, and the usable volume is 17.9 million cubic meters.
