In June, a catastrophic explosion destroyed the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, flooding huge areas of land. As the flood waters recede, Bel Trew has travelled to the affected areas to find shellshocked Ukrainians trying to put their lives back together.
Homes and businesses have been destroyed by the floods, with many citizens displaced. It’s also destroyed huge swathes of agricultural land that Ukraine needed to grow grain and crops for worldwide distribution. And on the horizon, fears about the occupied nuclear power plant linger.
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Homes and businesses have been destroyed by the floods, with many citizens displaced. It’s also destroyed huge swathes of agricultural land that Ukraine needed to grow grain and crops for worldwide distribution. And on the horizon, fears about the occupied nuclear power plant linger.
Watch On The Ground on Independent TV - across desktop, mobile and connected TV.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Crying]
00:07 [Crying]
00:14 [Music]
00:23 Breaking news in the war in Ukraine.
00:25 An explosion at a dam is flooding areas of southern Ukraine.
00:28 The apparent purposeful destruction of a major dam.
00:31 The water levels could rise by as much as 12 meters.
00:34 The Russian occupiers have committed the biggest crime of ecocide.
00:39 Whoever committed this act at the dam committed a war crime.
00:43 The sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realized in the coming days.
00:49 [Music]
00:55 In June, the Russian occupied Khovka Dam exploded,
00:59 unleashing the waters of one of Europe's largest reservoirs over hundreds of villages, towns and cities.
01:07 The explosion, which Kiev blames on Moscow,
01:10 has sparked the worst ecological disaster on the continent in recent history.
01:15 It will have global repercussions.
01:18 [Music]
01:23 Now the flood waters have lowered, civilians are returning to their homes for the first time.
01:29 The scale of the damage and what needs to be done is only just being revealed.
01:34 [Music]
01:38 [Speaking in Russian]
02:06 Families in this part of Kherson city now entirely rely on humanitarian aid to survive.
02:12 At one drop-off point we met several residents who took us around their destroyed homes.
02:18 Some of the water has receded, which has allowed partial access,
02:21 but right now they're desperately trying to find ways to pump the rest of the water out
02:26 so they can potentially come back to live here.
02:28 This is Katerina in her house.
02:30 She's going to show us.
02:32 [Speaking in Russian]
02:39 Katerina repeatedly warns us to be careful, as parts of her kitchen floor have already caved in.
02:45 [Speaking in Russian]
03:06 Pretty much all that's left are water-sogged walls, which are structurally unsound,
03:11 and the remains of belongings that are completely destroyed.
03:15 Everyone here has lived under months of occupation.
03:18 They have to contend with daily shelling.
03:20 All they had left were their homes and their belongings, and even that's been taken away from them.
03:26 Along the same street we meet 84-year-old Antonina,
03:32 who's trying to clear the mud and water from her home with her bare hands.
03:38 She's clearly in shock, and wearing the same nightie she was dressed in that morning she was evacuated,
03:44 it's the only belonging she has left.
03:47 [Speaking in Russian]
04:00 [Crying]
04:02 It's not just Kherson that's been impacted.
04:11 The devastation from the floods and Russia's ongoing shelling continues for hundreds of kilometres.
04:18 Just north of Mikhailov, Olga, who lives alone, says she was given no warning.
04:26 [Speaking in Russian]
04:38 Olga only escaped death by swimming to safety with her kittens.
04:52 Water levels here are still so high, volunteers deliver vital supplies by boat.
04:57 One of the biggest demands is clean water.
05:04 Most of the supply has been cut off or contaminated by sewage.
05:08 The potential spread of deadly disease is adding to a long list of woes,
05:14 and so Ukraine's Ministry of Health is closely monitoring the water.
05:19 [Speaking in Russian]
05:24 When the dam first exploded, the teams here in Zafaricha were testing the water four times a day.
05:30 They've now reduced that to once a day, but they're taking 20 samples,
05:34 and here they can test everything from cholera to radiation.
05:38 So far the results are manageable, but the regional head said it will take at least a decade,
05:44 and for the war to end, to repair the destroyed dam and water supply.
05:49 [Speaking in Russian]
06:05 Another problem is drought, upstream of the dam.
06:11 Access to water I think is our major issue right now.
06:15 The Kakovka reservoir was the source of drinking water for more than 700,000 people in southern Ukraine,
06:22 and this access to water for these 700,000 people is in danger.
06:27 One of the worst hit areas is Nikopol, a city which once backed onto and relied entirely on the Kakovka reservoir.
06:37 Since the reservoir has dried up, there is no water at all for the 50,000 residents who still live here.
06:43 The fire department told us they've got 10 crews working around the clock to bring water to the citizens of Nikopol.
06:50 They've just filled up here at this kindergarten in the centre of the city.
06:54 So people are queuing up, sometimes for hours, to get enough water to last them for a few days.
07:00 It's a huge risk to do this though.
07:03 Families tell us the Russians hit civilians gathering in these water lines.
07:08 [Speaking in Russian]
07:20 The water shortages are only compounding a pre-existing humanitarian crisis here in Nikopol.
07:26 Just across this dry Kakovka reservoir bed are Russian positions.
07:30 They occupy the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
07:33 Every day the city is being shelled from forces that are occupying that area.
07:38 Ukraine says since Russia has proved it's already willing to use scorched earth tactics,
07:45 including blowing up the Kakovka dam,
07:47 they would have no qualms in damaging the Russian-held nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe.
07:54 [Speaking in Russian]
07:59 President Zelensky has repeatedly said that Ukraine has fresh intelligence.
08:04 There is an immediate plan to do so.
08:07 Russia has vehemently denied both accusations.
08:11 In the interim, Ukrainian emergency services are preparing.
08:15 They are also testing the air for radiation every day.
08:20 There are other, more immediate consequences of the attack on the dam for the world.
08:28 Food.
08:30 This was fully submerged underwater and now it's just dried up shells.
08:36 For as far as the eye can see.
08:38 Before the invasion, Ukraine was nicknamed the breadbasket of the world.
08:42 It was already struggling to export grains and oils because of the conflict.
08:47 Now local farmers say their fields are turning to salty dust because of the loss of the reservoir.
08:54 [Speaking in Russian]
09:12 Normally, the World Food Program would buy food from Ukraine and export and send it to countries in Africa,
09:19 in the Middle East that need food support.
09:22 They still manage to buy food here from Ukraine and send it to other countries.
09:26 But we also have to provide food assistance here.
09:29 Almost 8 million people here last year, we need to provide them with food.
09:33 So basically a pre-existing global food problem could be made worse by this flooding,
09:38 whilst we also have food security issues within Ukraine as well.
09:41 There is no doubt that if there is the impact that we think that is going to be here on the agriculture,
09:47 it will add to a problem that is already complicated around the world and here in Ukraine.
09:52 [Speaking in Russian]
10:03 With no immediate answers, Ukrainians like Olha have to fend for themselves.
10:09 [Speaking in Russian]
10:25 But the future is bleak.
10:28 [Music]
10:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]