Environmental effects of the Kakhovka Dam destruction by warfare in Ukraine
Oleksandra Shumilova, Alexander Sukhodolov, Natalia Osadcha, Andrii Oreshchenko, George Constantinescu, S. A. Afanasyev, Mete Köken, Volodymyr Osadchyi, Bruce L. Rhoads, Klement Tockner, Michael T. Monaghan, Boris Schröder, Yurii Nabyvanets, Christian Wolter, О. М. Lietytska, Johan van de Koppel, Nataliya Magas, Sonja C. Jähnig, V. Lakisova, Ganna Trokhymenko, Markus Venohr, Viktor Komorin, Sergiy Stepanenko, V.К. Khilchevskyi, Sami Domisch, Martín C. M. Blettler, Peter H. Gleick, Luc De Meester, Hans‐Peter Grossart
Abstract
The use of water as a weapon in highly industrialized areas in the Russo-Ukrainian war has resulted in catastrophic economic and environmental damages. We analyze environmental effects caused by the military destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. We link field, remote sensing, and modeling data to demarcate the disaster's spatial-temporal scales and outline trends in reestablishment of damaged ecosystems. Although media attention has focused on the immediate impacts of flooding on society, politics, and the economy, our results show that toxic contamination within newly exposed sediments of the former reservoir bed poses a largely overlooked long-term threat to freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems. The continued use of water as a weapon may lead to even greater risks for people and the environment.