The mayor of Novaya Kakhovka, Volodymyr Kovalenko, said that the actions of the Russians at the Kakhovka HPP in the Kherson region could lead to an environmental disaster.
The occupiers blew up the bunkers on the hydraulic structure during the retreat from the right bank, due to which the water level in the Kakhov Sea is rapidly decreasing, Kovalenko said on the air of the Espresso TV channel.
"It is hard to imagine the state to which the enemy brought this hydraulic structure," he said.
Kovalenko emphasized that currently the level of water discharged into the Dnipro River is very high. This leads to the fact that the Kakhov reservoir rapidly becomes shallower, and the water level in the Dnieper rises sharply.
"Dozens of kilometers of dry shores of the Kakhovsky Reservoir are already visible, streams that were hidden for many kilometers to the right and left of the Dnipro. Therefore, it is now very difficult to imagine the consequences of these actions of the Russians, if this is not stopped," said the mayor of Novaya Kakhovka.
He emphasized that the actions of the Russians could lead to an ecological disaster. It also threatens the fish world of the reservoir.
"The lower part of the Dnipro, where Kakhovka is located, is on the contrary full of water. Since water from the Kakhovka HPP is constantly being discharged, even the canals are flooded. But the Kakhovka Sea is now becoming shallower every day," Kovalenko added.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that due to damage to the dam of the Kakhovskaya HPP, the water level in the reservoir fell by approximately 1.4 meters, which carries risks of limiting water supply, irrigation of fields, and threatens the ecosystem of the reservoir and the operation of the Zaporizhzhya NPP.