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Dam breach at Kakhovka HPP to have huge impact on area’s ecosystem — expert

In Sergey Stanichny's opinion, problems with the water supply will affect all cities in close proximity to the Kakhovka reservoir

SEVASTOPOL, June 7. /TASS/. The dam breach at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant will have serious consequences for the entire ecosystem of the Dnieper floodplain.

Sergey Stanichny, an expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences, oceanographer, and hydrophysicist, expressed this opinion talking to TASS on Wednesday.

"These huge volumes of water that moved to the Black Sea will wash away mud and everything else, will carry mud into the Dnieper-Bug estuary. This will lead to an environmental disaster. The floodplain of the Dnieper will be flooded, [many] birds and animals that live in this floodplain will die. This is a very serious blow to the ecosystem," Stanichny said.

The scientist noted that one of the factors for assessing the impact of the dam breach is the decrease in the water level in the Kakhovka reservoir. According to him, the volume of water accumulated in the reservoir, which cannot be released under normal conditions, stands at a level of about 11 meters.

"The floodgates that were destroyed, stand on a hill, about 11 meters from the bottom. If the dam itself, and not the floodgates, is destroyed, then the water intakes of the North Crimean Canal, the Kakhovka Canal, and the Dnieper-Krivoy Rog Canal may end up on dry land," Stanichny said.

In his opinion, problems with the water supply will affect all cities in close proximity to the Kakhovka reservoir. The expert added that it would take two or three days to fully understand the impact and damage from the explosion of the dam at the Kakhovka HPP.

On Tuesday night, Ukrainian forces delivered a strike on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), presumably from an Olkha multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). The shelling destroyed the hydraulic sluice valves at the HPP’s dam, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. In Novaya Kakhovka, the water level exceeded 12 meters at one point, but is now receding. There are currently 15 population centers in the flood zone; residents of nearby towns and villages are being evacuated. The collapse of the hydro plant's dam has caused serious environmental damage. Farmlands along the Dnieper River have been washed away, and there is a risk that the North Crimean Canal will become shallow.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack on the Kakhovka HPP as a deliberate act of sabotage by Ukraine. He added that the Kiev regime should bear full responsibility for the consequences.

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