Destruction of Kakhovka Dam leads to drying of Kakhovka Reservoir, satellite images show

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“New satellite imagery confirms that, in effect, the Kakhovka Reservoir no longer exists. Only the Dnipro River itself, a few tributaries, and some small lakes in the area remain,” tweeted the OSINT-blogger War Mapper on June 20, attaching satellite images of the reservoir made by Copernicus Sentinel.

Yevhen Yevtushenko, Head of the Nikopol District Military Administration, earlier claimed that due to the Kakhovka Reservoir drying up, a large part of the Nikopol District in the Dnipropetrovsk Region may be left without running water.

The drying up of the Kakhovka Reservoir could have consequences for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and the cooling of its reactors. On June 6, Ukraine’s Energoatom corporation published a statement saying that “the undermining of the Kakhovka reservoir may have negative consequences for Zaporizhzhia NPP, but the situation is under control.”

“Due to detonation, the water level in the Kakhovka reservoir is rapidly decreasing, which is an additional threat to the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP,” read the statement.

“Water from the Kakhovka reservoir is needed for the plant to receive power for ZNPP turbine capacitors and safety systems. Currently, the power plant's cooling pond is filled: as of 8:00 am, the water level is 16.6 meters, which is sufficient for the power plant's needs.”

Following the destruction of the dam on June 6, Nuclear physicist Andrei Ozharovsky told The Insider that the ZNPP does not yet need much water, and it is difficult to assess the danger posed to the station in the long term:

“Right now the plant is in shutdown mode, without power generation. The reactors are not at capacity, which means that water needs are minimal. This is the first factor reducing the danger. The second factor is that the water cooler is still separated from the Kakhovka Reservoir by a dam, and if we assume that in a few days or weeks the Kakhovka Reservoir will be completely drained, there will still be water in the cooler reservoir – it will gradually, maybe, evaporate, go down. In the long term, it’s necessary to calculate and watch the dynamics of this reservoir-cooler. Very often there are additional water sources nearby, such as streams and small rivers [that can help replenish the cooler reservoir].”