Consequences of Kakhovka HPP blast: Minister Strilets speaks of measures to restore environment

One of the main challenges in overcoming the consequences of the Russian occupation forces blowing up the dam of the Kakhovka HPP is the restoration of flooded forests, as well as preventing the desertification of the bottom of the Kakhovka Reservoir.

This was stated by the Minister for Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Ruslan Strilets, who spoke in an interview with Ukrinform on the sidelines of the Ukraine Green Recovery Conference in Vilnius.

"When we started to assess the damage together with the special mission of the UN Environmental Program, the more we immersed ourselves in the calculations, the more I understood that it is extremely difficult, almost impossible, to take any concrete steps now that would yield a quick result toward recovery," the minister admitted, answering the question about a priority action plan to tackle the consequences of the Russian terrorist attack.

"First of all, I’m talking about the restoration of flooded forests. Experts estimate that 50% of these forests will potentially dry up. I also emphasize that most of the territories have been mined. And in Kherson, for example, the area is constantly pummeled by Russian artillery," said Ruslan Strilets.

"One of the interesting ideas that emerged in the recommendations of our scientific and technical council under the Ministry was to plant the bottom of the Kakhovka Reservoir with various grasses in order to protect the territory from desertification and erosion processes," the Minister said, noting that Ukraine managed to do this only on the territory of about 3,500 hectares.

"Purely theoretically, according to our calculations, it should have taken a month to sow the entire territory, but it turned out that it was practically impossible. There are two reasons – the security situation and the lack of technologies that would allow tractors to drive freely along the soggy bottom. We have not yet learned how to sow seeds using drones," the minister said.

Noting that partners from Denmark are providing Ukraine with the appropriate seeds of different herbs as aid, the minister said that with the arrival of spring, the work will continue, adding that the Ministry is open "to any specific ideas from both our own experts and international partners. If they can be implemented, this will be done."

As reported, at the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, COP28, one of the parts of the exposition of the Ukrainian pavilion is the "Kakhovka" bloc, which will tell about one of the biggest man-made disasters in the history of mankind – the blowing up of the dam at the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant by the Russian invasion forces.