Why is Ukraine's Nova Kakhovka dam important?
At least 150 tonnes of oil from the dam have leaked into the Dnipro, Ukrainian Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets told a press briefing
PremiumUkraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnipro River, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea and is crucial for the entire country's drinking water and power supply. The last dam — the one furthest downstream in the Kherson region — is controlled by Russian forces.
Most of Ukraine's snowmelt and the runoff from rainy spring days winds up in the Kakhovka Reservoir.River dams work as systems. The idea is to manage the flow to provide constant water levels — for shipping, for flood control to property, and to ensure enough water for intake pipes for drinking and irrigation.
Damage to Environment
At least 150 tonnes of oil from the dam have leaked into the Dnipro, Ukrainian Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets told a press briefing, and the environmental damage had been estimated at 50 million euros ($53.8 million).
Blow to Ukraine's counter-offensive plans
The dam's collapse occurred just as Ukraine was poised to launch a counteroffensive and could complicate the advance of its forces in any assault, analysts said, though Kyiv has not divulged in which direction it plans to strike.
Power infrastructure has long been considered a valid military objective as long as it supports an enemy army’s activities, even if the system also supports the civilian population, writes military law expert Michael Schmitt in the Articles of War blog run by the Lieber Institute for Law & Warfare at the United States Military Academy West Point.
The destruction of the power generation facility has seriously damaged the environment, washing away farmland along the Dnieper River and threatening water levels in the North Crimean Canal. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the attack on the Kakhovka HPP was a premeditated act of sabotage.
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