To stop the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive, Russia blew up the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. This is the largest ecocide in Ukraine since the Chornobyl nuclear disaster.

What’s going on?
- Huge areas of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions are flooded with water from the Kakhovka Reservoir. About 80 settlements and 16,000 people were estimated to be in the critical areas. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the impacted areas that are under Ukraine’s control. The Russian occupation authorities are not helping flood victims on the left bank of the Kherson region, which is under their occupation, and are even hindering evacuation. Also, the occupation authorities have not ensured access to medical care, food and water for residents of the affected areas.
- The dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant across the Dnipro River, has been occupied by Russia since February 24, 2022, and was destroyed in the early morning hours of June 6, 2023. This act of terrorism echoes another one from Ukrainian history. During World War II, the Soviet secret police and the Red Army destroyed the dam of the Dnipro HPP, killing thousands.
- The destruction of the Kakhovka dam represents not only direct damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure but has serious ecological consequences. The Kakhovka Reservoir, covering an area of 2,155 square kilometres, equivalent to the Great Salt Lake in the U.S., is expected to disappear in the next few days as a result of the breach. The reservoir was an important water source for southern Ukraine, as well as for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, which has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. The environmental damage is further aggravated by the 150 tons of machine oil released into the Dnipro River, and another 300 tonnes was at risk of leaking.
- Experts believe that vegetable growers in the affected region may lose 20,000 hectares of productive land, and the price of wheat has already risen following the disaster. The dam destruction will also cause large issues with drinking water even for those areas that haven’t been flooded, including in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea regions. There is also an increased danger to life due to mines that may have been dislodged by the flooding.
Losses
- The Kakhovka dam explosion leaves many Ukrainian cultural sites in danger of flooding. The historical centre of Nova Kakhovka, the houses of arts in Nova Kakhovka, Korsunka and Dnipriany settlements have already been affected by the flood. The Kherson Art Museum named after Oleksiy Shovkunenko, which was looted by the Russians during the occupation of the city, іs also in the flooding zone.
- It is already known that the museum and home of famous Ukrainian painter Polina Raiko in occupied Oleshky was completely flooded. Polina Raiko was a self-taught painter and an important figure in Ukrainian naïve artistry, her home became a museum and a national cultural monument of Ukraine.
- The museum-estate of the Ukrainian writer Ostap Vyshnia, located in the village of Krynky, was also flooded. The museum’s exhibits include personal belongings and photographs of Ostap Vyshnia.
Way of financial support
- Support humanitarian initiatives in Kherson region;
- Support the Ukrainian army (main foundation in army support).
Russia crimes against media
- Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed 514 crimes against journalists and media in Ukraine. At least 61 journalists have been killed, 10 of them have died while performing editorial assignments.
- On May 29, Lviv-based journalist, activist and soldier, Victor Petrov, was killed in action in the east of Ukraine. Victor Petrov was the first editor of Sykhiv Media and had headed the publication from 2016 to 2019.
- Find out more about journalists and media workers who died in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s full-scale war.
Shares materials
- Kakhovka HPP explosion: human rights activists call on the world to stop Russia, war crimes must finally cease (ZMINA);
- Timothy Snyder «The Nova Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine» (Thinking about);
- Christopher Atwood «Attacking Ukraine’s Kakhovka Dam Fits Russia’s Centuries’ Old Pattern» (Newsweek);
- Alim Aliev “Why any peace deal in Ukraine must include Crimea” (The Hill);
- Serhii Plokhy “Russia thought it was invading the Ukraine of 2014” (Chatham House);
- Volodymyr Yermolenko, Mariana Budjeryn «How Ukraine gave up its nukes, and why this made it vulnerable» (UkraineWorld Podcast);
- A conversation between Illia Ponomarenko, defense reporter from Kyiv Independent and Maya Gebeily, Reuters Bureau Chief for Lebanon, Syria & Jordan (YouTube);
- Charlotte Higgins «War has shown Ukrainians – and the rest of us – why museums are so important for telling our stories» (Guardian);
- Dahlia Scheindlin «Where Does the War Go When You Turn Off the News?» (Haaretz);
- Inna Bilonozhko «Language freedom: decolonizing Ukrainian publishing» (Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung);
- Serhii Plokhy, el historiador que devela los entresijos en torno a la guerra (El País in Spanish);
- Abp Borys Gudziak “Ukraińcy pokonali strach i dają świadectwo przed całym światem” (Misyjne.pl in Polish).
PEN UKraine webpage on war
Visit our webpage for the latest news and materials on Russia’s war against Ukraine. Here you will find information on the situation in Ukraine, links to important materials and information resources, petitions, addresses, a list of publications about Ukraine to read in English, and books by Ukrainian authors recommended for translation. The page is continuously updated with the latest news and links.