Kakhovka Dam destruction, one year on

One year ago today, the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam unleashed a devastating flooding that left over 620 square kilometres of the Ukrainian territory under water. This was possibly one of the most significant incidents of damage to civilian infrastructure since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The destruction claimed lives, forced thousands to flee, left thousands more stranded and laid waste to Ukrainian land and livelihoods on both sides of the front line The Kakhovka reservoir, the primary source of drinking water for over 700,000 people in southern Ukraine, was depleted. The catastrophic environmental effects of the flooding will linger for years to come, affecting not only Ukraine.

The UN response

The UN response was swift and continues today. Regrettably, denials from the Russian Federation prevented the UN from reaching people in Russian-occupied areas.

In areas under Ukrainian control, the response began on day one. The UN and its partners rushed to provide people with desperately-needed water, food, health care, cash and protection and transport services, reaching close to 200,000 people in just a few days. Despite tremendous challenges, in June 2023 alone, the UN delivered approximately 20 inter-agency convoys bringing almost 80 truckloads of vital items to thousands of people affected by the disaster, in addition to the regular assistance provided separately by UN agencies and NGOs. Some supplies were delivered by boats and amphibious trucks, ensuring aid would reach people stranded by the flooding. 

Water, food, health and cash assistance to people impacted by the disaster

The UN and humanitarian organizations delivered around 20 million litres of bottled and trucked potable water, supported nearly 70 local water enterprises to ensure supply, supporting the drilling of boreholes for water production, including by delivering pumps, tap stands, water treatment units and water storage provided. Cash assistance was provided to nearly 40,000 people, while over 200,000 rations of ready-to-eat food were distributed in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. Health assistance was also a priority, with mobile teams providing aid across the affected areas. The UN also supplied medical equipment, including emergency health kits, trauma kits, diagnostic tests, and treatments for acute watery diarrhoea, including cholera, sufficient to provide healthcare to nearly 38,000 people for three to six months.

Nearly 65,000 emergency repair items and household supplies were distributed to people whose homes had been damaged in the Kherson region. From the earliest days of the disaster, Child Protection organizations reached over 14,000 people, including 7,300 children and over 6,600 caregivers, by deploying multidisciplinary mobile teams to the affected areas, providing mental health and psychosocial support, delivering essential supplies, and ensuring child protection case management and legal assistance.

The response continues to ensure people can recover from this human-made catastrophe

The UN response extends beyond the emergency phase and continues to support communities in southern Ukraine as they recover from yet another disaster caused by Russia’s invasion. This included supporting a Post Disaster Needs Assessment and an assessment on the environmental impact of the destruction to inform the ongoing response.

In the following months, the UN and its partners repaired homes for hundreds of people and deployed nearly 200 health workers to southern Ukraine to ensure services would continue despite the destruction. Repairing and building alternative water sources became a priority, with mobile water treatment facilities deployed to the Kherson and Dnipro regions, water pumps sent to Nikopol, and efforts to increase the water supply from the Karachunivsky water complex, supporting 600,000 people in Krivy Rih City.