GENICHESK, June 6. /TASS/. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydropower plant (HPP) caused by Kiev’s shelling inflicted serious damage on the environment, Novaya Kakhovka Mayor Vladimir Leontyev said on Tuesday.

"Gigantic damage [was caused] both upstream and downstream," the mayor said.

The destruction of the Kakhovka HPP will cause huge damage to the ecosystem and, consequently, to the region’s economy and social system, senator from the Republic of Crimea Olga Kovitidi said on her Telegram channel.

"The heritage of the Soviet period, the Kakhovka HPP has been finally destroyed as a result of the Ukrainian military’s persistent strikes. They won’t be able to leave Crimea without water because the main station of the North Crimean Canal is located upstream of the dam. However, huge damage has been caused to the ecosystem and the canal itself, which Russia will have to rescue from shallowing, to people’s homes that will be flooded and pastures," the senator said.

The Kiev regime’s destructive actions were predictable, Kovitidi said.

"We understand that we, Russia, will have to restore the Kakhovka HPP in the same way as Russia took efforts after 2014 to rebuild Crimea destroyed and plundered by Ukraine," she added.

The Ukrainian military shelled the Kakhovka hydropower plant overnight to June 6 presumably from an Olkha multiple launch rocket system, destroying the hydraulic valves and triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. Water levels have already exceeded 10 meters in Novaya Kakhovka.