KHERSON, Ukraine — After the Kakhovka dam was destroyed, a humanitarian crisis occurred in southern Ukraine. Thousands of people fled their homes due to floods, with many being rescued from rooftops on Wednesday. Both sides of the Dnipro River, which divides the warring armies in much of southern Ukraine, were affected by the floods, which inundated streets and houses. Ukrainian officials estimated that around 41,000 people were at risk from the flooding, with about 4,000 people being evacuated on both sides of the river. Reports are unclear as to what caused the dam to fail. Some officials suggested that the deliberately caused explosion inside the dam, was the likely reason behind its collapse.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam to “use the flood as a weapon”, as Russian officials blamed Ukrainian shelling for the destruction of the facility. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, talked to both Ukrainian and Russian presidents to urge an investigation into the matter to uncover the truth behind the dam destruction.
The destruction of the dam caused a significant disaster, with thousands of Ukrainians displaced, including seven people who were missing due to the floods. People were without normal drinking water access, and the emergency services worked tirelessly to rush potable water to Ukrainian-controlled areas. Information about areas that were under the Russian-allied administration was difficult to obtain, but several villages were filmed inundated with water, and about 1,500 people had been evacuated.
The environmental consequences of the disaster are becoming clear. Because of the dam’s destruction, hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, some of Ukraine’s most productive grain fields, are at risk of turning “into deserts as early as next year,” according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture. Additionally, thousands of fish have died, and the drop in the reservoir’s water levels makes it difficult for fish eggs to hatch and replenish populations. An estimated 150 tons of machine oil has been discharged into the waters, along with pesticides, fuels, and other toxins, washing into the Dnipro River.
Flood-affected communities need large amounts of fuel, water, and vehicles to help recover, but these are also components that are essential for military operations. National guard soldiers are supporting the recovery efforts to deliver essential resources as quickly as possible while fighting continued on Wednesday, both sides of the conflict exchanging attacks.
NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg warned not to focus too heavily on the Kremlin’s field blunders so far. He mentioned that the Russian front line lacked quality in terms of morale, equipment, training, leadership, and logistics, but more than made up for it in quantity, which has a quality of its own.
