Lower Dnister National Nature Park flooded due to explosion of Kakhovka HPP

That's according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

According to the ministry, as of today, the water level near the islands has risen by three meters. The corresponding figures are recorded on an area of more than 77 thousand hectares.

The intensity of flooding is decreasing, but water continues to come in due to the destruction of the dam. Landslides and the transfer of rock destruction products by water have been observed, and buildings and equipment in the national park are suffering.

According to Ruslan Strilets, Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, the "big water" has affected the lands of the Emerald Network and Ramsar sites, which are of global importance due to their unique biodiversity.

"The flora and fauna of the Lower Dnister National Nature Park include 120 valuable protected species. As a result of the Russian terror, animals are dying in the National Park, and their habitats and reproduction are disappearing," said the head of the Ministry of Ecology.

According to the ministry, the flooding affected areas where typical and rare communities of floodplain forests, swamps, meadows, sandy steppes, steppe slopes of the Dnipro River and beams, and rock outcrops have been preserved.

The agency reminded that one of the main migratory routes for migratory birds passes through the territory of the Lower Dnister National Nature Park, and the stopping places are very important for them.

As Ukrinform reported, on the night of June 6, the Russian army blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam. About 16,000 people are in the disaster zone on the right bank of the Kherson region. People are being evacuated from dangerous places.

On the temporarily seized left bank of Kherson region, Russians failed to evacuate the population.

As of 11:30 a.m. on June 6, almost the entire Kakhovka HPP was underwater. It became known that the explosion of the plant destroyed, among other things, the engine room, which stored 450 tons of fuel oil.

Ukrhydroenergo said that Kakhovka HPP was completely destroyed and cannot be restored.

Photo: Ministry of Environment