On banks of environmental disaster, Ukrainians try to stand strong
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Howard LaFranchi Staff writer
| KHERSON and ODESA, Ukraine
From Nataliia Shatilova鈥檚 perspective, Russia鈥檚 eight-month occupation of her city of Kherson in southeastern Ukraine last year had the unintended effect of steeling residents to face the challenge of floodwaters that have inundated riverfront neighborhoods over the last week.
鈥淲e went through the occupation, and during the occupation people very quickly built a strong level of independence and resistance to the occupying forces, and that built a strong sense of determination and self-reliance among our communities,鈥� says Ms. Shatilova, deputy director of the Kherson regional operations of the Ukrainian Red Cross.
Add to that the past six months of almost daily shelling from聽Russian forces just across the Dnipro River, she says, and people have been prepared to confront what she calls the 鈥渢hird difficult situation鈥� to besiege Kherson in less than two years: the Dnipro鈥檚 devastating flooding following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka Dam.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onCities, and people, recover from floods, and Kherson鈥檚 wartime experiences have steeled it to face challenges. But in the Ukrainian city, along banks of the Dnipro, and around the Black Sea, concerns mount for the flood鈥檚 environmental impact.
As water from a heavy rain pours into the bombed-out southern facade of the government building the Red Cross has converted into flood response headquarters, Ms. Shatilova lists the area鈥檚 unfilled needs for food, medicines, and dry shelter.
But she also underscores Kherson鈥檚 fortitude and optimism, qualities that have surprised even her.
鈥淧eople are in good spirits,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey are taking this situation with the destroyed dam as another challenge that we here in Kherson will overcome.鈥�
The catastrophic flooding followed destruction June 6 of the Nova Kakhovka Dam and hydroelectric power plant, about 60 miles up the Dnipro from Kherson.
The dam鈥檚 collapse quickly drained what had been one of Europe鈥檚 largest reservoirs, created in the Soviet era decades before Ukraine鈥檚 independence to supply water to heavy industry and to enable large-scale irrigation of Ukraine鈥檚 fertile but dry southern steppes. The reservoir also supplied fresh water to Crimea.
Ukraine and Russia continue to blame each other for the dam鈥檚 destruction, although indications that an internal explosion of the Russian-controlled facility caused the failure could suggest Russian responsibility.
Both sides insist the other was motivated to unleash the reservoir鈥檚 waters by Ukraine鈥檚 long-anticipated counteroffensive to retake occupied territory, which launched last week. Russia may have caused the breach to stall and complicate the counteroffensive, some say, while others speculate that Ukraine acted with the intent of flooding entrenched Russian forces.
Whichever is accurate, the undisputed outcome of the destruction is an environmental calamity for southern Ukraine that some experts warn could equal the impact of the 1986 nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl power plant in northern Ukraine.
The flooding inundated more than 200 square miles of land downstream in both Ukrainian and Russian-occupied territory 鈥� submerging dozens of villages and riverfront neighborhoods of Kherson and sending a dangerous and toxic stew of dislodged landmines, chemicals, and untreated sewage from overwhelmed systems into the Black Sea and west along Ukraine鈥檚 southern coast to the port city of Odesa.
Officials voice concerns that the fetid waters could have dire health and economic impacts 鈥� on farming and fishing, for example.
More long term, the flooding and loss of extensive irrigation systems could leave thousands of acres stripped of their rich topsoil, and result in a desertification of farmlands that have helped make Ukraine one of the world鈥檚 most productive breadbaskets.
But for now, in Kherson鈥檚 flooded neighborhoods, the focus is on cleanup, recovery, and pitching in to help flooded neighbors.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been through everything, so we won鈥檛 put our hands down now,鈥� says Nataliia Bespogaynaia as she employs her rubber-gloved hands to scrub the floodwater-soaked fixtures of a friend鈥檚 market in Kherson鈥檚 riverfront Antonivka district.
The little market, which once served patrons of a nearby beach and motorists crossing a now-destroyed bridge to the Russian-occupied east bank of the Dnipro, hasn鈥檛 been open for months. But Ms. Bespogaynaia says she decided to help the store鈥檚 owner clean up from the filthy waters that at one point were waist-deep 鈥� and to prepare for the day when the store might serve the surrounding area once again.
鈥淲e are lifetime optimists!鈥� she says, gesturing to her two friends who joined her for the cleanup. That draws a broad smile from Sasha Kondratenko, clad in shorts and rubber slides, who adds his own upbeat note.
鈥淲e are now Venice!鈥� he says, repeating the lemons-to-lemonade line that has become popular in Kherson.
Which is not to say the three friends aren鈥檛 concerned for the area鈥檚 future.
Mr. Kondratenko points out the submerged houses across the street closer to the river and wonders aloud what will be salvageable. He worries about the public health ramifications of the untreated sewage and chemicals.
And he wonders if the many species of fish and animals the area boasted of just a week ago might have disappeared. 鈥淲e just don鈥檛 know what to expect for the future,鈥� he says.
For biologists and ecologists, the dam collapse has already destroyed the unique estuary system at the Dnipro鈥檚 Black Sea mouth and will lead to severe health and environmental impacts beyond Ukraine to Bulgaria, Turkey, and other Black Sea-fronting countries.
鈥淧eople are comparing this to the Chernobyl power plant disaster, but this is a very different kind of environmental catastrophe with a wider range of impacts,鈥� says Vladislav Balinskiy, a biologist and head of the Ukrainian environmental nongovernmental organization Green Leaf.
As he takes stock in Odesa of the piles of river reeds and other debris clogging one of the city鈥檚 normally unencumbered sandy beaches, Mr. Balinskiy notes that as terrible as Chernobyl was, it did not irretrievably alter the surrounding landscape. Over time dissipation of radioactivity has allowed nature to recover.
鈥淏ut here the very particular and unique natural systems that made up the Dnipro River鈥檚 estuaries have vanished, carried away to beaches like this one,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey just don鈥檛 exist anymore.鈥�
Indeed, the flooding destroyed the 200,000-acre Lower Dnipro River National Park, an internationally recognized jewel that was home to unusual and even unique plant and animal species. Those include the frog and lizard species, some of which were already endangered, that Mr. Balinskiy has found over the past week along Odesa鈥檚 shoreline.
As for economic impact, he notes that nearly 2.5 million acres of irrigated farmland depended on the reservoir. 鈥淲here before we were growing crops, we could now have dust storms,鈥� he says.
Another calamitous result of the dam collapse was the washing away to flooded downriver communities and the Black Sea more than 50 years of accumulated sediments on the Kakhovka reservoir鈥檚 bottom.
Mr. Balinskiy points out that insecticides and other agricultural chemicals that were banned in the United States beginning in the 1960s were used on Soviet Ukraine鈥檚 rapidly expanding croplands into the 1990s. The sediment buildup, which in some places reached more than 50 feet deep, also held the polluted and untreated waste of heavy industries the Soviets placed along the reservoir鈥檚 perimeter.
鈥淣ow all those insecticides and chemicals and bacteria that have developed have been washed into the Black Sea,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what the impact will be,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut we do know what precious natural systems we have lost.鈥�
In Kherson鈥檚 riverfront communities, people have heard of and are discussing the many dire consequences the dam collapse will have beyond their flooded homes and muddy streets, says Sergei Ivaschenko, a community leader in Antonivka village.
The potential public health ramifications are especially worrisome for many residents, he says.
But then his demeanor brightens. 鈥淭hese people have lived through the occupation and the shelling, so now they are not afraid of anything,鈥� he says 鈥� not even a disaster that he says can only be called 鈥渁n act of terrorism.鈥�
Reporting for this story was supported by Oleksandr Naselenko.
