The water situation is rapidly deteriorating in the temporarily occupied part of Kherson Oblast: groundwater levels have dropped, crop yields have sharply declined, and the Russian authorities are taking no measures.

Source: Serhii Danylov, Deputy Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, writes Vhoru

Quote: “They can’t do anything – they themselves blew up the Kakhovka HPP.”

Details: Danylov explained that the region is returning to the natural state of dry steppes. “My colleagues-geographers speak about aridification, that is, a transition to an arid, dry climate. In fact, the left bank will become a semi-desert,” he said.

In the future, this may lead not only to the loss of irrigation but also to a shortage of drinking water. “The fact is that what was before will no longer exist. The region will dry up, and accordingly, the ecological capacity of the population there will be completely different,” Danylov emphasised.

Background:

On 6 June 2023, the Operational Command Pivden (South) reported that Russian forces had blown up the Kakhovka HPP.The Kakhovka HPP, destroyed by the Russians, was one of ten operating hydroelectric power plants in Ukraine. Across the entire energy system, hydropower accounted for a relatively small share of electricity generation, recently fluctuating within 7-8% of total consumption.At the time, Ukrhydroenergo CEO Ihor Syrota stated that the construction of a new hydroelectric power plant on the site of the destroyed Kakhovka HPP would take at least 5 years.In the midst of the extremely hot summer of 2025, Donetsk Oblast found itself on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe due to water supply disruptions.Earlier, it was reported that in occupied Donetsk Oblast, water levels in the Zuivske and Vilkhivske reservoirs had dropped critically, threatening the operation of one of the key thermal power plants, the Zuivska TPP.It was also reported that in the territories of Donetsk Oblast seized by the Russian troops, the water shortage had intensified.

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