Dam burst: Selenski leads crisis meeting on drinking water supply
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held an emergency meeting on drinking water supply in the Dnipropetrovsk region after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. There are problems with the water supply in the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Marganets, Pokrov and Nikopol, reported the military governor of the region, Serhiy Lysak, according to a statement from the presidential office. The Minister of Development and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov presented a project for the construction of a new reservoir, which should be at least partially on the territory of the existing one.
The Kachowka Dam was destroyed on Tuesday night. As a result, huge amounts of water flowed into the lower reaches of the Dnipro, which burst its banks and flooded large areas of southern Ukraine. At the same time, the level in the actual reservoir dropped dramatically. According to the authorities, the drinking water supply in the adjacent regions is at risk.
According to the Presidential Office, the meeting also dealt with the construction of new water pipes in the Dnepropetrovsk region, which are to replace the old ones from the Kakhovka reservoir. At a previous meeting with environmental activists, Zelensky put the number of people potentially affected by drinking water shortages in Ukraine at “hundreds of thousands”.