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Fears Russia could blow up dam and flood Ukraine - 'Declaration of war on the world'

James Cheng-Morris
·Freelance news writer, Yahoo UK
Updated ·4-min read

  • As Russia retreats from Kherson, a key Ukrainian city, there are fears forces could blow up a major dam

  • It would cause devastating flooding and president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia would be “declaring war on the whole world”

  • Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War have previously said destroying the dam would slow down the Ukrainian counteroffensive

  • Read the full article below to find out why the dam has become central to the ongoing war in Ukraine

FILE - Russian troops guard an entrance of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station, a run-of-river power plant on the Dnieper River in Kherson region, south Ukraine, on May 20, 2022. Moscow has warned that Ukraine may try to attack the dam at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant about 50 kilometers (30 miles) upstream and flood broad areas, including the city of Kherson. Ukrainian forces pressing an offensive in the south have zeroed in on Kherson, a provincial capital that has been under Russian control since the early days of the invasion. This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense. (AP Photo, File)
Russian troops pictured guarding an entrance to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in May. There are fears Russia could blow up the dam as it retreats. (AP)

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russia would be “declaring war on the whole world” if its forces blow up a major dam in the region it is retreating from.

There are fears Russia could destroy the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, causing destructive flooding of up to 80 towns and cities and, by many accounts, a humanitarian crisis.

This comes after Russia’s troops were this week ordered to retreat from the key city of Kherson, in the southern Kherson Oblast region, following an ongoing counteroffensive by Ukraine’s forces.

Kherson had been the only regional capital taken by Russia since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in February.

TOPSHOT - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint news conference with Greece's President following their meeting at the Mariinskiy palace in Kyiv on November 3, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP) (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia would be 'declaring war on the whole world' if it blows up the dam. (AFP via Getty Images)

The retreat is therefore a humiliation for Putin, especially as Kherson is one of the regions he annexed and claimed formal control of in a ceremony at the end of September.

It has subsequently raised fears about what Russia may do with the Kakhovka plant. In a message to Russia, Zelensky warned “think what will happen to you” if it does blow up the dam which, according to the independent Moscow Times news outlet, carries about the same amount of water as the Great Salt Lake in Utah in the US.

The spectre of Russia blowing up the Kakhovka plant was previously raised by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a major US think tank, last month.

As the ISW said in its 21 October update: “Russian forces will likely attempt to blow up the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) to cover their withdrawal and to prevent Ukrainian forces from pursuing Russian forces deeper into Kherson Oblast.

Watch: UK doesn’t fear Russian reprisals for supporting Ukraine - Ben Wallace (from Wednesday)

“Russian forces will almost certainly blame Ukraine for the dam attack.”

Indeed, Sergey Surovikin, head of the Russian forces in Ukraine, said this week that Ukraine plans to flood the area below the power plant.

But, as the ISW pointed out, “Ukraine has no material interest in blowing the dam, which could flood 80 Ukrainian cities and displace hundreds of thousands of people while damaging Ukraine’s already-tenuous electricity supply.

“Russia, however, has every reason to attempt to provide cover to its retreating forces and to widen the Dnipro River, which Ukrainian forces would need to cross to continue their counteroffensive.”

Russian troops patrol an area at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station, a run-of-river power plant on the Dnieper River in Kherson region, south Ukraine, Friday, May 20, 2022. The Kherson region has been under control of the Russian forces since the early days of the Russian military action in Ukraine. This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense. (AP Photo)
Blowing up the dam would cause destructive flooding in the south of Ukraine. (AP)

It added "Russian decision makers may believe that blowing the dam will enable them to retain that buffer zone" with Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

However, Ukraine has said Russia would be "crazy" to blow up the dam when such a move could flood areas under its control.

"If you check the landscape in this district, you will find that the western bank is higher terrain and the east bank is lower terrain," defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said.

Read more: Ukraine war latest: Crucial Kherson bridge 'blown up' by retreating Russians

"This means the water will flow east of this bank and they will have a risk for their troops."

Meanwhile, James Black, a defense analyst at RAND Europe, told the Moscow Times: "Blowing the dam would also provoke international outcry.

"While it may slow Ukrainian troops’ advance in the south in the short-term, it could serve to further stiffen Ukrainian resolve and will-to-fight against Russian occupation in the long run.”