Occupiers’ explosion of Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant: Damages reached $14 billion, - Ministry of Environment
Almost $14 billion in damages have already been accrued as a result of the Russians' explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
According to Censor.NET, citing Interfax-Ukraine, this was reported by Svitlana Hrynchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.
"If we talk about the material side of these losses, then almost $14 billion in damages have been accrued due to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and the loss of these water resources," she said.
According to her, the amount of lost water resources is comparable to half of the reserves of some African countries. This was also noticeable for Ukraine, which is why the problem of water supply in the affected regions is still very relevant.
The minister also said that the government is now working to find new sources of water supply and is building new channels to supply the population with quality drinking water. In addition, foreign partners are being engaged.
She noted that about 30% of the Kherson region's nature reserve was flooded and lost. However, a special ecosystem has now formed in this area and nature is gradually recovering.
"Of course, we had expectations that this land, which remained after the water left, would degrade, but fortunately, nature itself took the side of Ukraine. Now we have willow forests growing in these areas. It is developing differently, of course, but a special ecosystem has been formed as a result of this tragedy. Nature is really restoring itself," Hrynchuk added.
At the same time, she emphasized that Ukraine will feel the consequences of this disaster for a long time.
Explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant
On the morning of June 6, 2023, the Russian occupiers blew up the dam of the Kakhovka HPP. As a result of the explosion, the turbine room was completely destroyed and the plant cannot be restored. The explosion led to the flooding of a number of settlements in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, including the occupied territories.
More than 62 thousand hectares of forest in the Kherson region were damaged as a result of the occupiers' explosion of the Kakhovka HPP.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 31 people died as a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP.
The number of people killed by the dam explosion in the occupied territories is unknown.
