The head of Novaya Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, said that a controlled discharge of water has begun at the Kakhovka HEPP to reduce the rising water level in the Kakhovka reservoir on the Dnieper River.
“It was possible to bring some of the relevant equipment into working condition,” said the Minister, noting that the water level in the reservoir began to drop.
The administration of the Novokakhovsk urban district announced that the army was able to partially solve the problem with shandor (this is a kind of repair shutter) and remove the valve at the main station of the North Crimean Canal in Tavriysk. Part of the water was sent to the surviving pipelines of the Kakhovka main canal in Lyubimovka.
Critically high water level
Earlier, authorities reported that the water level in the Kakhovka reservoir has risen to a critical level.
“The Kakhovka reservoir is now overflowing and is at a record level. “There was record low water in winter, now the water level has risen 17m above this mark, which is 2.5m above the norm,” he said.
– “We are with Russia,” said the head of the movement, Vladimir Rogov.
A further rise in the water level could cause a dam to fail near the town of Kamenka-Dneprovskaya and flood nearby towns and villages with tens of thousands of people.
Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of Rosenergoatom, spoke about the risk of flooding the territory of the Zaporizhzhya NPP in the event of a break in the dam of the Kakhovka reservoir.
“The power cable lines of the spray ponds and pumping stations will be flooded at the station,” he told TASS.
According to him, such an accident could create problems in the operation of nuclear power plants and risks to nuclear safety.
Vladimir Rogov said the reasons for the rising water level in the reservoir were flooding and “uncontrolled discharge of water” from hydroelectric power stations in the Ukrainian-controlled cities of Dnipro and Zaporozhye.
Rogov added that another reason for the water increase was the bombing of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, which made repairs at the station impossible. According to him, “the rainy season is over, with the formation of dry air the water level in the reservoir should stabilize.”
Connection with the Ukrainian counteroffensive
On May 5, Rogov expressed the opinion that Ukraine may deliberately try to flood the left coastal part of the Zaporozhye region, located under the right bank of the Dnieper. According to him, the Ukrainian side wants in this way to flood the mine barrier line on the left bank of the reservoir.
“They are using this situation as a military element to prepare for the Dnieper crossing, including the seizure of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant,” he said.
In turn, Strana’s Ukrainian edition noted that flooding this area could also work against the Ukrainian Armed Forces – due to the spilling of the reservoir, it would be more difficult for Ukrainian troops to cross the Dnieper if they were given such a task.
At the same time, the acting governor of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said that “in fact, there is no particular increase in water in the Kakhovka reservoir.”
“The tales that the Kiev regime tells about the ‘flood of the left bank’ are aimed at scaring our people and creating panic,” the regional president said.
On April 29, Saldo described as technically impossible a possible scenario in which the first line of defense of the Russian army from the reservoirs in the hydroelectric power station of the Ukrainian side would suddenly flood.
“Actually, the array of hydraulic structures on the Dnieper will not allow water to suddenly flow downstream. The water will disperse along the entire length of the river, partly going to the main channels of the Northern Crimea and Kakhovka, ”the statement explained.
On November 9, 2022, Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, at the suggestion of Sergei Surovikin, who was then the commander of the troop group in the military operation zone, ordered the withdrawal of Russian troops in the Kherson region from the right bank of the Dnieper. to the left bank. Surovikin explained that the decision to withdraw forces was due to the threat of isolation of the Russian army in case of flooding of areas under the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station.