New satellite images show flood zone: how dam broke and flooded Ukraine

A broken dam on the Dnipro turned a 100-kilometer stretch of Ukraine into a disaster zone in the middle of the war. New satellite images show the tidal force rolling toward Cherson.

The day after the dam at Nova Khakovka broke, additional imagery of the situation in southern Ukraine was made public: high-resolution images from commercially deployed Earth observation satellites provide a detailed record of the flood disaster in the lower reaches of the Dnipro.

Before and after comparisons can directly see the hard-hit areas. Here is a view of the river section at Nova Cachauga with the blasted dam wall to the right:

From the morning of June 6, masses of water poured into the river valley in the direction of Kherson from the large Khakovka reservoir. About 100 kilometers of river below the destroyed dam near Nova Cachauga were inundated.

The destruction was massive: within a few hours, the deluge widened the dam breach into a massive breach. The dam collapsed for a length of almost 800 meters. A large amount of dam water is still rolling down the valley.

Here at Nova Kakovka, the Dnipro first flows in a westerly direction, where it meets an elevation. The right, northwest bank of the river rises steeply. The built-up area there is a dozen meters above the normal water level.

The situation on the left bank of the Dnipro is more complicated. Here the coastal areas are flat and the terrain does not rise there. The course of the river here borders on the vast plains of the southern Ukrainian steppe regions. All the villages along the banks are seriously threatened by floods.

The broken Kachovka Dam, towards the southwest:

A before-and-after comparison of zoomed-in satellite images shows the extent of the damage: At Kachavka Dam itself, the massive concrete dam with its steel floodgates disappeared along its entire length in the flood. Even massive lock systems designed for ore and grain cargoes for inland navigation on the Dnipro were partially washed away.

Unless otherwise stated, images are from the day before and after the disaster. A before-and-after comparison shows how powerful the current was in the hours after the dam burst: the Kachovka hydroelectric station at the dam was completely destroyed, including the generator buildings. Only remnants of the once 350 MW system cling to the stream.

Below the dam wall, the effects of the dam failure were felt as early as the morning of June 6: residents of the residential areas of Nowa Kachovka near the shore were quickly confronted with rising water levels.

The city on the Khakovka Dam has been under Russian control since the first days of the war. It’s unclear how many people were still living in the city, which once had about 45,000 residents when the dam broke. Nowa Kachovka is a war zone: since last fall, the front has been running here between the occupied territory and independent Ukraine.

Before and after pictures of Dnipro Bank near Nova Khakovka indicate extensive damage to bank buildings. The harbors and a jetty to the west of the small town are completely submerged. Turbulent water masses can be seen from space in an even more magnified image.

The Dnipro, which until recently was a wide but calm body of water flowing towards the sea, has become a raging torrent. The comparison images here are facing south-east; North is at the bottom left.

A few kilometers west of Nova Khakovka lies the Ukrainian village of Gorchunga on the banks of the river. Until the Russian invasion, people lived from growing fruits and vegetables, as evidenced by extensive greenhouses and gardens. The sleepy town was one of the worst hit areas.

Current satellite images show extensive flooding in residential areas. The water level has risen and flooded large areas of residential areas. The water seeped through ditches and canals, sometimes more than a kilometer into the plains.

Gorzunga’s reports are not yet available. Like Nova Kachovka, this place is in the zone of Russian occupation and thus outside the sphere of influence of Ukrainian auxiliaries. The entire bank on the west side of the village is flooded.

Satellite images taken in the days before the disaster show how far this part of the Dnipro bank is from the main Dnipro fairway. The settlements on the shore are located behind the vast area of ​​swamp and alluvial forest that separates the solid shore from the present area. In some places, this protective strip is nearly two kilometers wide – but is now completely flooded.

The situation is further downstream: in the entire lower reaches of the Dnipro, the areas on the left bank are particularly affected by the tsunami. After Gorzunga, the river valley describes a curve. The Dnipro turns southwest and flows towards Kherson.

On the right bank, here on the north bank, the stream meets a somewhat rocky bluff, which offers more resistance to the water masses than the flat swamps on the opposite side. There are long towns like Krynky, Kosatschi and so on Pishjanivka, where hundreds of properties with residential buildings are now under water.

Drone recording: Dnipro’s bluff

From Korchunga to Oleshki, the place at the Antonivka bridge near Cherson, all settlements near the shore are threatened by flooding. All the mentioned places are under Russian control. It is not known how many people were staying in the residences along the shore at the time of the accident.

Only behind Oleschky the Dnipro valley slowly expands. Cherson lies on the right bank west of Oleshki. Large parts of the city center were built on higher ground. Only parts of the harbor and residential areas downstream of the city are at risk of inundation.

Current satellite imagery raises fears of extensive flood damage here too: Cherson port is mostly under water. The current eddies in the photo from June 6 show the force of the river’s water pushing against the banks of the Dnipro.

Factories, warehouses and commercial establishments were affected by the floods. Environmental impacts are expected to be high across the region. On its way to the Black Sea, the water masses from the reservoir carried not only large quantities of contaminated soil, heating oil and other fuels, but also mines, grenades and other explosives from Russian positions on the shore.

In the midst of the war, the people of Ukraine are facing an additional disaster due to the tidal wave following the breach of the dam at Nova Khakovka. According to Ukrainian information, up to 46,000 people were directly affected in the flood zone.

Entire residential areas along the river banks are permanently uninhabitable. Ukrainian authorities have warned of infectious diseases caused by contaminated drinking water. In many cities near the frontline, coordinated relief operations for Ukrainian forces are impossible.

Meanwhile, the first steps are being taken in areas controlled by Ukraine. Tens of thousands of people living in flooded settlements need to be brought to safer shelters and need permanent new homes.

In addition, there are massive difficulties in distribution. “We have no electricity, no gas, no water,” complains a resident on the Ukrainian side of the disaster zone. The collapse of the Nova Khakovka dam will be a long-term burden for Ukraine.

The tidal wave is a disaster for the entire region. Drinking water supply in many cities and towns in Dnipro depends on a stable water level. Khakovka Reservoir is one of the largest reservoirs in Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, millions of people have been cut off from drinking water due to the bursting of the Khakovka Dam and flooding.

The water from the reservoir is not limited to drinking water treatment. Large areas of agriculture in the south of Ukraine used granaries for fruit and vegetable cultivation. If water does not come from the reservoir, only irrigated agriculture will come to a standstill. Ukraine is considered the repository of Europe. Sooner or later, the disaster will not only severely affect agriculture in Ukraine. The Food and Agriculture Organization (WFP) warns of the devastating consequences of starvation around the world.