Fields could become deserts
Ukraine: Dam breach hits Russian-occupied side in particular
06/07/2023, 07:19 am
According to Ukrainian sources, the floods in the Cherson region are hitting the areas occupied by Russia particularly hard. Because the hydroelectric power plant has also been destroyed, the fields in the region could soon turn into deserts.
According to initial estimates, after the explosion of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture expects around 10,000 hectares of agricultural land on the northern bank of the Dnipro in the Cherson region to be flooded. On the southern bank, in the Russian-occupied area, a multiple of this area will be flooded, the ministry said on its website. Detailed information should therefore be announced in the coming days when the ministry has got an accurate picture of the situation.
“Moreover, the man-made disaster will disrupt the water supply of 31 field irrigation systems in the Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions,” the ministry said. “The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant will mean that the fields in southern Ukraine could turn into deserts as early as next year,” it said. The drinking water supply in populated areas is also affected. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, it also expects negative consequences for fisheries.
Zelenskyj: No effect on counter-offensive
The dam was destroyed on Tuesday night in the Russian-occupied part of the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson. The Kremlin blames Kyiv. Ukraine and many Western observers, on the other hand, are convinced that the Russian occupiers blew up the dam themselves – possibly in order to hinder the planned Ukrainian counter-offensive.
The Ukrainian military has already evacuated thousands of people from the region. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the destruction of the dam should have no impact on his country’s counter-offensive to push back the Russian army. “The dam explosion did not affect Ukraine’s ability to liberate its own territories from occupation,” the head of state assured in his evening statement video message.