Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy estimates direct losses from Kakhovka HPP dam explosion 

The Ministry of Economy's press service shared the findings of the first analysis conducted by specialists from the KSE Institute, which estimated the direct losses.

The total direct losses amount to more than $2 billion, with specific breakdowns as follows:

• Housing: $950 million.

• Energy industry: $624 million in losses. The Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was completely destroyed and cannot be restored, resulting in losses of $586 million for the sector. The construction of a new hydroelectric power plant will require approximately $1 billion.

• Transport infrastructure: $311 million in losses. The flood affected over 290 km of roads.

• Industry: $105 million in losses. Flooding impacted 28 major industrial facilities situated on both sides of the Dnipro River.

• Agriculture: $25 million in losses.

• Environment and ecology: $1.5 billion in losses. The explosion caused the leakage of 150 tons of oil, and the salinity level of the Black Sea near Odesa is almost three times lower than normal.

Yuliya Svyrydenko, the head of the Ministry of Economy, highlighted the significant damage to the housing stock in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.

An urgent priority is to provide people with drinking water and construct water mains. To address this, the government has allocated UAH 1.5 billion.

Explosion at Kakhovka HPP

The Russians have been occupying the Kakhovka HPP since February 24 last year.

On October 20, 2022, Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, warned that Russia was planning a big terrorist attack—to blow up the Kakhovka HPP dam in the Kherson region. He also mentioned other potential consequences of such an explosion. Later, Halyna Luhova, the head of the Kherson city military administration, shared a plan of action for residents in case the reservoir dam was blown up.

On Tuesday, June 6, 2023, the Russian occupying forces blew up the Kakhovka HPP, completely destroying it. The evacuation of people from unsafe areas began, and the President of Ukraine called an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council. You can find more information on how the situation unfolded on the morning of June 6 by following this link.

The United States is carefully examining the evidence regarding the explosion at Kakhovka HPP.