Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / War and military activity · Ukraine · 2023–2026

Destruction of the Kakhovka dam and drainage of the Kakhovka reservoir (June 2023)

Nature's voice · report
My Kakhovka reservoir lost 14.4 km³ of water, 72.5% of its volume, by 13 June 2023, according to UNEP.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
  • My mature aquatic ecosystem, in place for about 70 years, became a riverine ecosystem at an initial stage of development, according to UNEP, which says much of the damage is highly likely to be irreversible. UNEP
  • Velykyi Luh National Nature Park held 14,898 ha of reservoir water, almost 89% of its area; UNEP says the park was highly probable to have been entirely damaged. UNEP
  • About 620 km² of my land lay under flood water on 9 June 2023, according to UNOSAT; FAO counted 11,294 ha of flooded forest on 7 June 2023, mostly pine. UNEP
  • My Lower Dnipro National Nature Park, 80,177.8 ha, was inundated in its entirety according to the park administration, and the flood wave partly washed away soil, tree stands and other vegetation on Kozatsky Island. UNEP
  • About 150 tons of machine oil from the plant entered my water, as confirmed by Ukrainian authorities, and the Ukrainian Government confirmed the loss of 11,388 tons of fish during the spawning season. UNEP
  • My north-western Black Sea was affected over more than 50% of its area, with chlorophyll-a and suspended sediment over 50 times ambient levels; algal blooms began within a week and lasted about 20 more days, according to a 2025 study. Communications Earth & Environment (Jiang D. et al.)
  • Willow-poplar floodplain forest occupied about 30% of my drained bed, according to field trips between June 2023 and October 2024 reported in a 2025 peer-reviewed paper. NaUKMA Scientific Notes, Biology and Ecology, vol. 8 (Didukh Ya. et al.)
  • My vascular plant taxa increased nearly 14 times during the year after the drainage, according to a 2025 peer-reviewed paper. Ukrainian Botanical Journal 82(5) (Kuzemko A.A. et al.)
  • At least 400 plant species had been recorded on my former bed by October 2026, according to the botanist Ivan Moysienko. UA.NEWS
  • RDNA4 states that 19 months after the breach my ecosystem services have still not been restored. World Bank, Government of Ukraine, European Union, United Nations
  • 11,294 hectares of my forest were lost.
    Forest flooded as of 7 June 2023 (FAO, via UNEP), mostly pine; experts consider the flooded area fully lost.
  • Around 150 tonnes of oil entered my waters.
    About 170,000 litres, confirmed by Ukrainian authorities; a further 300 tons reported at the facility "can be presumed to have been released" (UNEP).
  • 11,388 tonnes of my fish died.
    Loss confirmed by the Ukrainian Government (Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food), cited by UNEP.
People
  • 35 people died.
    SBU figure; 24 missing and 46 settlements in Kherson Oblast flooded.
What the record lacks: 9 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 self-reported only · 2 not measured · 11 disputed · 6 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Value of the environmental damage
  • Government and regulators State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine: About US$1.5 billion of damage to the Kakhovka reservoir, given as approximate by First Deputy Head Dmytro Zaruba on 5 September 2023. ArmyInform
  • Government and regulators Ruslan Strilets, Minister of Environmental Protection: UAH 146 billion on 4 October 2023, about 10% of all assessed war damage to the environment, to be presented to the aggressor "as a separate account". Interfax-Україна
  • International bodies PDNA (Government of Ukraine and UN, October 2023): Over US$6.4 billion in ecosystem-service losses over 18 months (58% of all losses), assuming 50% impairment of protected-area services valued at US$8.5 billion a year; the PDNA states that validating the damages was impossible. Government of Ukraine and United Nations
  • International bodies RDNA3 (World Bank, Government of Ukraine, EU, UN, February 2024): US$9.6 billion in lost ecosystem services from protected areas; water pollution from the breach was out of scope. World Bank, Government of Ukraine, European Union, United Nations
  • Government and regulators Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin: Damage preliminarily estimated at US$2 billion, as reported by Babel in June 2024. Babel
  • Government and regulators Svitlana Hrinchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection: "almost 14 bn dollars of damage caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and the loss of these water resources" (6 January 2025). Суспільне
  • International bodies RDNA4 (February 2025): US$14.1 billion, or 51 percent of forest and environment losses, dominated by the Kakhovka Dam breach. World Bank, Government of Ukraine, European Union, United Nations
Fish lost in the breach
  • Government and regulators Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (cited by UNEP): "The Ukrainian Government has confirmed the loss of 11,388 tons of fish"; UNEP elsewhere gives "11,000 tons of dead fish reported". UNEP
  • Researchers Jiang et al., Communications Earth & Environment (2025): Gives the loss of fish resources from the reservoir as "around 20,000 tons", from loss of spawning grounds, citing a secondary reference. Communications Earth & Environment (Jiang D. et al.)
Area of forest flooded or damaged
  • International bodies FAO (cited by UNEP): 11,294 ha of forest flooded as of 7 June 2023, mostly pine. UNEP
  • Press and investigations Suspilne (January 2025): Writes that nearly a third of forests, over 64,000 ha, was damaged; no source is given. Minister Hrinchuk said about 30% of Kherson Oblast's nature-reserve fund was flooded and lost. Суспільне
Share of the reservoir that drained
Scale of the effect on the north-western Black Sea
  • International bodies UNEP: Assessed the effect on the Black Sea as temporary and "unlikely to be consequential" overall, with possible effects in the Dnipro delta and on coastal morphology. UNEP
  • Researchers Jiang et al., Communications Earth & Environment (2025): The breach affected more than 50% of the north-western Black Sea, with chlorophyll-a and suspended sediment over 50 times ambient levels and significant nitrate and phosphate increases off Odesa; algal blooms started within a week and lasted about 20 more days. Communications Earth & Environment (Jiang D. et al.)
Rebuild the dam and reservoir, or not
  • Government and regulators Cabinet of Ministers and Ukrhydroenergo (July 2023): Approved an experimental two-year project (design and groundwork) to rebuild the HPP, with construction after "de-occupation"; Ukrhydroenergo said the plant "cannot be restored" as it was. Ukrinform
  • Communities and civil society Kakhovka Platform (42 organisations): Asked the government to reconsider Resolution No. 730; set out three options: abandon reconstruction and restore Velykyi Luh; full restoration; or a much smaller reservoir. Environment People Law (EPL)
  • International bodies UNEP: Recommends that "approaches suggesting that a smaller reservoir may bring benefits to nature … should be considered"; says a no-restoration scenario is "unlikely" to be seriously considered given agriculture, energy and drinking water. UNEP
  • Researchers Ivan Moysienko, Kherson State University: Said on 6 June 2026 that the new forest is a habitat type protected under Bern Convention Resolution No. 4 and that a nature reserve would be the best option. Ukrinform
  • Government and regulators Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council: Said on 5 October 2026 that Ukraine "should restore the Kakhovka Dam and reservoir once the war ends". UA.NEWS
  • Communities and civil society Survey of 400 Kherson residents by the community fund "Zakhyst" (31 May 2025): 63% supported new, smaller hydraulic structures, 53% a national park or reserve on the former reservoir, and 80% said the state does not give enough information. Факти ICTV

The dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the Dnipro was breached on 6 June 2023 and the reservoir drained within about two weeks. Ukraine and Russia each attribute the destruction to the other; UN and World Bank-led assessments put the ecosystem-service losses at US$6.4 billion to US$14.1 billion.

US$14.1 billion estimateEcosystem-service losses from the breach (RDNA4)
Estimate by the World Bank, Government of Ukraine, EU and UN for February 2022 to December 2024. The PDNA (October 2023) gave US$6.4 billion of ecosystem-service losses and RDNA3 (February 2024) US$9.6 billion.

Status As of October 2026: the dam has not been rebuilt (President Zelensky put the cost at about EUR 2 billion in December 2025); notices of suspicion in absentia have been served on two Russian generals; the ecocide forensic examination was pending in June 2026; no court ruling is on record.

What?
The dam of the Kakhovka HPP on the Dnipro was breached on 6 June 2023 and the reservoir drained within about two weeks, flooding the lower Dnipro and leaving the former reservoir bed dry. Ukraine and Russia state opposing accounts of who caused the destruction. UNEP
Where?
The Kakhovka HPP dam on the Dnipro at Nova Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast; the lower Dnipro, the Inhulets valley, the Dnipro-Boh estuary, the Kinburn peninsula and the north-western Black Sea downstream; the former reservoir in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts upstream. UNEP says the impacts reach five administrative regions. UNEP
When?
Breach on 6 June 2023 at about 02:35 and 02:54 local time (NORSAR); 72.5% of the reservoir drained by 13 June 2023; assessments published October 2023 (PDNA, UNEP), February 2024 (RDNA3) and February 2025 (RDNA4); suspicion notices on 6 June 2024 and 1 October 2025; Register of Damage environmental category opened 30 September 2026. NORSAR
Who?
Gained
  • Residents of Kryvyi Rih and other towns — Three new water mains totalling 145 km, with a capacity of 550,000 m³ per day, serving over one million people; the Inhulets–Kriazheve section opened on 21 August 2023 Ukrainska Pravda
  • Vegetation on the former reservoir bed — Vegetated surfaces grew from 265.4 km² (19 August 2023) to 1,315.7 km² (19 August 2025) Journal of Landscape Ecology (Magas N.I.)
Lost
Harmed
  • The Kakhovka reservoir ecosystem — 14.4 km³ (72.5%) of water lost by 13 June 2023; a mature aquatic ecosystem turned into a riverine one at an initial stage UNEP
  • Protected areas — 59 nationally designated protected areas, ten Emerald Network sites, five Ramsar sites and one UNESCO-MAB biosphere reserve directly affected UNEP
  • Fish — 11,388 tons of fish loss confirmed by the Ukrainian Government (via UNEP); around 20,000 tons in a 2025 paper UNEP
  • The Dnipro-Boh estuary and the north-western Black Sea — Petrochemical pollution in the estuary and sediment and algal blooms over more than 50% of the north-western Black Sea Communications Earth & Environment (Jiang D. et al.)
Why?
Ukraine says Russian forces mined and blew up the dam from the inside; Russia says the Ukrainian side destroyed it by sabotage or strikes and by raising the water level. NORSAR detected an explosion without attributing it; the SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office have served notices of suspicion in absentia on two Russian generals. No court has ruled. OSCE (Delegation of Ukraine)
How?
NORSAR recorded two signals "consistent with an explosion"; a New York Times investigation as relayed by Reuters pointed to a charge in a passageway through the dam's concrete base, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the cause. A 2024 satellite-radar study found pre-war deformation in the dam from June 2021 and did not attribute a cause. NORSAR
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP) at Nova Kakhovka on the Dnipro, Kherson Oblast, was breached in the early hours of 6 June 2023, and the reservoir emptied through the breach. UNEP gives the full reservoir's size as 240 km long, up to 23 km wide, with a surface area of 2,155 km². About 18 km³ of water passed through the lower Dnipro over about 14 days, which UNEP says equals 30 to 50 percent of the river's usual annual flow there. By 13 June 2023, 14.4 km³, or 72.5% of the reservoir's water, had drained. UNOSAT counted about 620 km² flooded on 9 June 2023; by 3–5 July the flooded area had fallen to about 40 km².

Ukraine's delegation told the OSCE on 7 June 2023 that Russian forces blew up the dam from the inside. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on 6 June 2023 that the Ukrainian side had carried out sabotage, and Russia's OSCE delegation called it a terrorist crime by Kyiv. NORSAR recorded two seismic signals at about 02:35 and 02:54 local time that it called consistent with an explosion, and made no statement on who caused it. A New York Times investigation, as relayed by Reuters, pointed to an explosive charge in a passageway through the dam's concrete base; Reuters said it could not independently verify the cause. A 2024 satellite-radar study found parts of the dam moving downward from June 2021 and did not attribute a cause.

UNEP's Rapid Environmental Assessment (October 2023) found that the drainage turned a mature aquatic ecosystem of about 70 years into a riverine ecosystem at an initial stage of development, and that much of the damage is highly likely to be irreversible. UNEP counted 59 nationally designated protected areas, ten Emerald Network sites, five Ramsar sites and one UNESCO-MAB biosphere reserve as directly affected. FAO counted 11,294 ha of forest flooded as of 7 June 2023. About 150 tons of machine oil from the plant entered the water, and the Government of Ukraine confirmed the loss of 11,388 tons of fish. A 2025 peer-reviewed study reported that the breach affected more than 50% of the north-western Black Sea, with chlorophyll-a and suspended sediment over 50 times ambient levels.

The Government of Ukraine and the UN put total damage and loss at US$13,798.10 million in the PDNA (October 2023), including US$6,402.5 million of ecosystem-service losses over 18 months. RDNA3 (February 2024) gave US$9.6 billion for lost ecosystem services from protected areas, and RDNA4 (February 2025) US$14.1 billion, or 51 percent of forest and environment losses. Ukrainian officials gave their own figures between US$1.5 billion (September 2023) and UAH 146 billion (October 2023). By 2 August 2023 UAH 4.3 billion had been allocated from the state budget for the consequences, and three new water mains of at least UAH 13.5 billion in total were 87% complete on 8 December 2023.

As of October 2026 the dam had not been rebuilt; President Zelensky put the cost at about EUR 2 billion on 24 December 2025. Ukraine's SBU and Prosecutor General's Office served notices of suspicion in absentia on two Russian generals, in June 2024 and October 2025; the ecocide forensic examination was still under way in June 2026. No court ruling on the destruction is on record. The Council of Europe's Register of Damage for Ukraine opened its environmental-damage category on 30 September 2026. On the former reservoir bed, studies recorded vegetation growing from 265.4 km² to 1,315.7 km² between August 2023 and August 2025, and at least 400 plant species by October 2026.

  1. 2021Satellite radar analysis later shows parts of the dam moving downward from June 2021
  2. 2022Ukrhydroenergo files a claim of almost UAH 17 billion for damage to the Kakhovka HPP and an unfinished wind plant (September)
  3. 2023Dam breached (6 Jun); NORSAR records two explosion-consistent signals; 72.5% of the reservoir drained by 13 Jun; Ukraine and Russia state opposing accounts at the OSCE (7–8 Jun); Cabinet approves an experimental rebuild project (18 Jul); UNEP and PDNA assessments published (Oct)
  4. 2024RDNA3 published (Feb); suspicion notice in absentia served on Colonel General Oleh Makarevych (6 Jun); Ukrhydroenergo begins an investment-arbitration procedure (Jun) and cancels its legal-services tender (15 Oct)
  5. 2025RDNA4 published (Feb); UNEP sediment assessment completed (1 Mar); suspicion notice served on Major General Volodymyr Omelianovych (1 Oct); Zelensky puts rebuild cost at about EUR 2 billion (24 Dec)
  6. 2026Prosecutors say the ecocide forensic examination is under way (6 Jun); Register of Damage opens its environmental-damage category (30 Sep)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“an undeniable act of ecocide and an obvious war crime”

“this is a deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side”

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, to RBC (as reported by Ukrainska Pravda) · 6 June 2023 · translated from Russian · Ukrainska Pravda

“the Kyiv regime committed yet another terrorist crime, blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant”

“media-hyped 'environmental disaster caused by the Russians' is sure to generate funds”

“are consistent with an explosion and are not what would be expected for a dam collapse”

NORSAR, on the two seismic signals · 19 June 2023 · NORSAR

“the dam was crippled by an explosion set off by the side that controls it: Russia.”

“monumental humanitarian, economic and environmental catastrophe”

António Guterres, UN Secretary-General · 6 June 2023 · UN News

“Without reservation the assessment concludes that the Kakhovka dam breach is a far-reaching environmental disaster; the scale of which might not be clear for years or even decades to come”

UNEP, Rapid Environmental Assessment · October 2023 · UNEP

“UAH 146 billion is only what we managed to count”

Ruslan Strilets, Ukraine’s Minister of Environmental Protection (translated) · 4 October 2023 · translated from Ukrainian · Interfax-Україна

“almost 14 bn dollars of damage caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and the loss of these water resources”

Svitlana Hrinchuk, Ukraine’s Minister of Environmental Protection (translated) · 6 January 2025 · translated from Ukrainian · Суспільне

“the case of ecocide is much more difficult because it requires much more time to investigate”

Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine · 6 June 2024 · Babel

“To rebuild it, about EUR 2 billion is needed, and someone has to invest this money.”

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine · 24 December 2025 · Ukrinform

“External financial and technical support is urgent and indispensable”

UNEP, on remediation and restoration · October 2023 · UNEP

“a risk of the North Crimean Canal becoming shallow”

Sergei Aksyonov, Russian-installed head of Crimea (translated) · 6 June 2023 · translated from Russian · Interfax

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Responsibility for the destruction of the dam
Government and regulators
Ukraine's delegation to the OSCE

Said "the Russian occupiers blew up the Dam" around 2:30 a.m. on 6 June 2023, that the explosion "occurred from the inside", and that there is evidence Russians mined the dam in 2022.

OSCE (Delegation of Ukraine)
Government and regulators
Operational Command South (Ukraine)

Said on 6 June 2023 that Russian occupation forces blew up the HPP.

Ukrainska Pravda
Government and regulators
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

Said on 6 June 2023 that the Ukrainian side carried out "a deliberate sabotage" aimed at "depriving Crimea of water" and distracting from its "faltering" offensive.

Ukrainska Pravda
Government and regulators
Russia's delegation to the OSCE

Said on 8 June 2023 that "the Kyiv regime committed yet another terrorist crime", citing a Russian letter to the UN of 21 October 2022 warning of a Ukrainian strike.

OSCE (Delegation of the Russian Federation)
Government and regulators
Vladimir Leontyev, Russian-installed head of Nova Kakhovka

Told TASS on 8 June 2023 that Ukrainian forces had been "preparing and deliberately destroying the HPP for over six months" with HIMARS strikes, and questioned why the water level rose by more than 1.5 m a day or two before.

TASS
Researchers
NORSAR (Norwegian seismic institute)

Recorded two signals on 6 June 2023 "consistent with an explosion" and "not what would be expected for a dam collapse"; located both within about 20–30 km of the dam; could not determine the device type; made no statement on who caused the explosion.

NORSAR
Press and investigations
The New York Times investigation, as relayed by Reuters

Cited engineers and explosives experts as saying the evidence suggests an explosive charge detonated in a passageway through the dam's concrete base, set off "by the side that controls it: Russia". Reuters said it could not independently verify the cause; the engineers said only a full examination of the dam could establish the sequence.

Arab News (Reuters)
Communities and civil society
Legal experts assisting Ukraine's prosecutors

Preliminary findings in June 2023 said it was "highly likely" that explosives planted by Russians caused the collapse.

Arab News (Reuters)
Researchers
InSAR study (Communications Earth & Environment, 2024)

Satellite radar showed deformation hotspots in the dam before the war, with movement from June 2021. The authors say the analysis does not exclude the explosion hypothesis and does not attribute a cause; corresponding author Pietro Milillo pointed to neglected maintenance and operations after the war began as possible destabilising factors.

ScienceDaily (University of Houston release)
International bodies
António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Called the event "another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine" on 6 June 2023.

UN News
International bodies
European Union at the OSCE

Described on 22 June 2023 "the devastating humanitarian and environmental consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) dam" and said Russia "denied access to United Nations humanitarian workers" on the left bank.

OSCE (European Union)
Reservoir water level before the breach
Government and regulators
Ukraine's delegation to the OSCE

Said Russia raised the reservoir to a record 17.5 m with the gates closed beforehand.

OSCE (Delegation of Ukraine)
Government and regulators
Russia's delegation to the OSCE

Said Kyiv "deliberately raised the water level" by opening the Dnipro HPP floodgates.

OSCE (Delegation of the Russian Federation)
Value of the environmental damage
Government and regulators
State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine

About US$1.5 billion of damage to the Kakhovka reservoir, given as approximate by First Deputy Head Dmytro Zaruba on 5 September 2023.

ArmyInform
Government and regulators
Ruslan Strilets, Minister of Environmental Protection

UAH 146 billion on 4 October 2023, about 10% of all assessed war damage to the environment, to be presented to the aggressor "as a separate account".

Interfax-Україна
International bodies
PDNA (Government of Ukraine and UN, October 2023)

Over US$6.4 billion in ecosystem-service losses over 18 months (58% of all losses), assuming 50% impairment of protected-area services valued at US$8.5 billion a year; the PDNA states that validating the damages was impossible.

Government of Ukraine and United Nations
International bodies
RDNA3 (World Bank, Government of Ukraine, EU, UN, February 2024)

US$9.6 billion in lost ecosystem services from protected areas; water pollution from the breach was out of scope.

World Bank, Government of Ukraine, European Union, United Nations
Government and regulators
Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin

Damage preliminarily estimated at US$2 billion, as reported by Babel in June 2024.

Babel
Government and regulators
Svitlana Hrinchuk, Minister of Environmental Protection

"almost 14 bn dollars of damage caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and the loss of these water resources" (6 January 2025).

Суспільне
International bodies
RDNA4 (February 2025)

US$14.1 billion, or 51 percent of forest and environment losses, dominated by the Kakhovka Dam breach.

World Bank, Government of Ukraine, European Union, United Nations
Fish lost in the breach
Government and regulators
Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (cited by UNEP)

"The Ukrainian Government has confirmed the loss of 11,388 tons of fish"; UNEP elsewhere gives "11,000 tons of dead fish reported".

UNEP
Researchers
Jiang et al., Communications Earth & Environment (2025)

Gives the loss of fish resources from the reservoir as "around 20,000 tons", from loss of spawning grounds, citing a secondary reference.

Communications Earth & Environment (Jiang D. et al.)
Area of forest flooded or damaged
International bodies
FAO (cited by UNEP)

11,294 ha of forest flooded as of 7 June 2023, mostly pine.

UNEP
Press and investigations
Suspilne (January 2025)

Writes that nearly a third of forests, over 64,000 ha, was damaged; no source is given. Minister Hrinchuk said about 30% of Kherson Oblast's nature-reserve fund was flooded and lost.

Суспільне
Share of the reservoir that drained
International bodies
UNEP

14.4 km³, or 72.5% of the reservoir's water, had drained by 13 June 2023.

UNEP
Researchers
Jiang et al., Communications Earth & Environment (2025)

About 90% of the reservoir drained.

Communications Earth & Environment (Jiang D. et al.)
Scale of the effect on the north-western Black Sea
International bodies
UNEP

Assessed the effect on the Black Sea as temporary and "unlikely to be consequential" overall, with possible effects in the Dnipro delta and on coastal morphology.

UNEP
Researchers
Jiang et al., Communications Earth & Environment (2025)

The breach affected more than 50% of the north-western Black Sea, with chlorophyll-a and suspended sediment over 50 times ambient levels and significant nitrate and phosphate increases off Odesa; algal blooms started within a week and lasted about 20 more days.

Communications Earth & Environment (Jiang D. et al.)
Rebuild the dam and reservoir, or not
Government and regulators
Cabinet of Ministers and Ukrhydroenergo (July 2023)

Approved an experimental two-year project (design and groundwork) to rebuild the HPP, with construction after "de-occupation"; Ukrhydroenergo said the plant "cannot be restored" as it was.

Ukrinform
Communities and civil society
Kakhovka Platform (42 organisations)

Asked the government to reconsider Resolution No. 730; set out three options: abandon reconstruction and restore Velykyi Luh; full restoration; or a much smaller reservoir.

Environment People Law (EPL)
International bodies
UNEP

Recommends that "approaches suggesting that a smaller reservoir may bring benefits to nature … should be considered"; says a no-restoration scenario is "unlikely" to be seriously considered given agriculture, energy and drinking water.

UNEP
Researchers
Ivan Moysienko, Kherson State University

Said on 6 June 2026 that the new forest is a habitat type protected under Bern Convention Resolution No. 4 and that a nature reserve would be the best option.

Ukrinform
Government and regulators
Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council

Said on 5 October 2026 that Ukraine "should restore the Kakhovka Dam and reservoir once the war ends".

UA.NEWS
Communities and civil society
Survey of 400 Kherson residents by the community fund "Zakhyst" (31 May 2025)

63% supported new, smaller hydraulic structures, 53% a national park or reserve on the former reservoir, and 80% said the state does not give enough information.

Факти ICTV

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The destruction described as an act by Russia: Ukraine’s delegation to the OSCE called it "an undeniable act of ecocide and an obvious war crime".
    Ukraine's delegation to the OSCE · OSCE (Delegation of Ukraine)
  • The destruction described as an act by Ukraine: Russia’s delegation to the OSCE called it a "terrorist crime" and said an "environmental disaster caused by the Russians" would generate funds.
    Russia's delegation to the OSCE · OSCE (Delegation of the Russian Federation)
  • The event described as "another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine".
    UN Secretary-General António Guterres · UN News
  • The new drinking-water mains reported as 87% complete by 8 December 2023, serving over one million people.
    Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine · Ukrainska Pravda

Recorded

  • UNEP records that the drainage turned a mature aquatic ecosystem into a riverine ecosystem at an initial stage of development, and that much of the damage is highly likely to be irreversible.
    UNEP
  • PDNA: ecosystem-service losses of over US$6.4 billion, 58% of all losses; the damage column for the environment is blank and validating the damages on the ground was impossible.
    Government of Ukraine and United Nations
  • RDNA3: US$9.6 billion for lost ecosystem services from protected areas; RDNA4: US$14.1 billion, 51 percent of forest and environment losses.
    World Bank, Government of Ukraine, European Union, United Nations
  • UNEP’s follow-up sediment assessment (28 April 2024 to 1 March 2025) reports that a human health risk model "revealed exceedances of screening and remediation levels".
    UNEP / Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic
  • Ukraine's delegation to the OSCE (8 June 2023) gave 31 irrigation systems affected, which in 2021 irrigated 584,000 ha, and named Kryvyi Rih and all of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast as at risk.
    OSCE (Delegation of Ukraine)
  • By 2 August 2023 UAH 4.3 billion (about US$124 million) had been allocated from the state budget for the consequences: over UAH 2.8 billion from the fund for eliminating the consequences of armed aggression (UAH 1.5 billion of it for a pilot main-pipeline project) and over UAH 1.5 billion from the reserve fund (about UAH 966 million for drinking water), according to Roksolana Pidlasa, head of the parliamentary Budget Committee.
    Ukrainska Pravda (Ekonomichna Pravda)
  • The Inhulets–Kriazheve section of the new water mains opened on 21 August 2023, supplying a quarter of Kryvyi Rih residents.
    Ukrainska Pravda
  • Tutova et al. (2025) surveyed 158 plots near Khortytsia in April 2025: the main colonisers of the former bed are Salix × rubens and Populus nigra, and carbon sequestration peaked at intermediate stand densities.
    Studia Biologica 19(3) (Tutova H. et al.)
  • The SBU gives 35 civilians dead and 24 missing, with 46 settlements in Kherson Oblast flooded.
    Радіо Свобода (RFE/RL)
  • Two notices of suspicion in absentia served on Russian generals; no court ruling and no ecocide suspicion notice or indictment on record as of June 2026.
    UNN
  • Euromaidan Press (29 September 2026), citing Ukrainian commanders and an ISW assessment, reports that the former reservoir bed lies on the front line and that Russian infantry use the reed-covered dry bed for cover and supply.
    Euromaidan Press
  • Vegetated surface on the bed grew from 265.4 km² (19 August 2023) to 1,315.7 km² (19 August 2025); residual water fell from 312.7 km² to 136.2 km².
    Journal of Landscape Ecology (Magas N.I.)
  • The Register of Damage for Ukraine opened its last claim categories on 30 September 2026, including damage to the country’s environment and natural resources.
    Council of Europe

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Ecosystem-service losses, 333,000 ha of protected areas and 11,290 ha of forest (PDNA, Government of Ukraine and UN) estimate$6.4bn
Window: 18 months
Table 35: US$6,394.80 million for protected areas and US$7.65 million for forest.
Lost ecosystem services from protected areas (RDNA3) estimate$9.6bn
Window: Feb 2022–Dec 2023
Part of US$26.5 billion forest and environment losses; "36 percent of all losses originate in the damage to 333,041 ha in 12 Protected Areas".
Kakhovka Dam breach losses in forest and environment (RDNA4) estimate$14.1bn
Window: Feb 2022–Dec 2024
51 percent of US$28 billion forest and environment losses.
PDNA environment recovery needs (de-mining, clean-up, surveys, contaminated-site assessment) estimate$60m
Needs, not damage.
Damage to the Kakhovka reservoir, State Environmental Inspectorate (5 September 2023) estimate≈ $1.5bn
Damage preliminarily estimated by Prosecutor General Kostin (June 2024) estimate$2bn
Damage from the destruction and loss of water resources, Minister Hrinchuk (6 January 2025) estimate$14bn
Environmental damage stated by Minister Strilets (4 October 2023)—
UAH 146 billion; about 10% of all assessed war damage to the environment, per the minister.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
PDNA total damage, all sectors estimate$2.8bn
PDNA total losses, all sectors estimate$11bn
PDNA damage: destruction of the Kakhovka HPP (of US$1.26 billion energy damage) estimate$1.2bn
PDNA losses: Ukrhydroenergo (including US$96 million revenue) estimate$182m
PDNA losses: Energoatom (Zaporizhzhia NPP) estimate$3.6bn
PDNA agriculture damage and loss (fishery and aquaculture US$31.5 million) estimate$407m
PDNA water and sanitation damage estimate$66m
PDNA water and sanitation losses estimate$83m
RDNA3 irrigation damage, Kakhovka dam estimate$359m
RDNA3 irrigation recovery needs (780,000 ha command area) estimate$1.5bn
Needs, not damage.
PDNA total recovery needs (US$1.82 billion for 2023–24) estimate$5bn
Needs, not damage.
Rebuild of the HPP, Ukrhydroenergo CEO (18 July 2023)—
US$1–1.2 billion and seven years.
Rebuild of the dam, President Zelensky (24 December 2025)—
About EUR 2 billion.
State-budget allocation for the consequences, by 2 August 2023—
UAH 4.3 billion (about US$124 million per the source).
Three new water mains, 145 km, Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development—
At least UAH 13.5 billion; 87% complete on 8 December 2023.
UNEP sediment assessment funding: Czech Republic$0.41m
Window: 28 Apr 2024–1 Mar 2025
UNEP sediment assessment co-finance: USA$0.2m
Window: 28 Apr 2024–1 Mar 2025
UNEP sediment assessment co-finance: Japan$0.36m
Window: 28 Apr 2024–1 Mar 2025
Currency: USD · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Government of Russia (Kremlin) (6–8 June 2023): Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the destruction "a deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side", aimed at "depriving Crimea of water"; Russia's Investigative Committee opened a terrorism case, according to Russia's OSCE delegation. · Ukrainska Pravda
  • Government of Ukraine (OSCE delegation) (7 June 2023): Said "the Russian occupiers blew up the Dam" around 2:30 a.m. on 6 June, that the explosion "occurred from the inside", and that the reservoir had been raised to a record 17.5 m with the gates closed beforehand. · OSCE (Delegation of Ukraine)
  • Ukrhydroenergo (18 July 2023; 15 October 2024): Said the HPP is "completely destroyed and cannot be restored" and put a rebuild at US$1–1.2 billion and seven years; in October 2024 it said Russia "will fully compensate for the damage". · Ukrinform
  • Russian-installed head of Crimea (6 June 2023): Said there was "a risk of the North Crimean Canal becoming shallow", that reservoirs earlier 15–20% full were now about 80% full, and that drinking water was more than sufficient. · Interfax
  • Russia's delegation to the OSCE (8 June 2023): Said "the damage to agriculture in the region and to the Dnieper estuary ecosystem has been colossal". · OSCE (Delegation of the Russian Federation)

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. Ongoing
    Criminal proceedings opened by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine
    Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine and SBU (pre-trial investigation) · Criminal · Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine → No defendant on record in the ecocide case

    Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said on 6 June 2024 that Ukraine had initiated a case of ecocide and a case of war crimes, and that the ecocide case "requires much more time to investigate". On 6 June 2026 Borys Indychenko, head of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office, said a comprehensive forensic examination involving more than 20 specialists was under way to determine whether the event qualifies as an environmental disaster, and that he hoped to move to a suspicion notice or indictment "by the end of this year". No suspicion notice or indictment under the ecocide article was on record as of June 2026. Babel

  2. 2024–Ongoing
    Notice of suspicion in absentia: Colonel General Oleh Makarevych
    SBU and Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine · Criminal · SBU and Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine → Colonel General Oleh Makarevych, former commander of Russia's "Dnipro" grouping (notified of suspicion in absentia)

    On 6 June 2024 the SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office served a notice of suspicion on Makarevych, alleging that he ordered the dam blown up on the night of 5–6 June 2023. The charge is violation of the laws and customs of war combined with intentional murder by a group by prior conspiracy, with a maximum of life imprisonment. Kostin said the notice concerns the sabotage (war crimes) case. This is a notice of suspicion, not a conviction. LIGA.net

  3. 2025–Ongoing
    Notice of suspicion in absentia: Major General Volodymyr Omelianovych
    SBU · Criminal · SBU → Major General Volodymyr Omelianovych, chief of staff and first deputy commander of the "Dnipro" grouping (notified of suspicion in absentia)

    On 1 October 2025 the SBU served a notice of suspicion in absentia on Omelianovych, alleging that he coordinated the subordinates who blew up the dam. The SBU gives 35 civilians dead and 24 missing and 46 settlements in Kherson Oblast flooded. Радіо Свобода (RFE/RL)

  4. 2023–Outcome not on record
    Data on the destruction provided to the ICC Prosecutor
    International Criminal Court (Office of the Prosecutor) · International court · Prosecutor General of Ukraine → Not specified in the source

    On 7 June 2023 Prosecutor General Kostin signed a decree to give the ICC Prosecutor data on the destruction and briefed ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan. RFE/RL

  5. 2023–No defendant left
    Russian criminal case for an act of terrorism
    Investigative Committee of Russia · Criminal · Investigative Committee of Russia → No charges against named individuals on record

    Russia's delegation to the OSCE said on 8 June 2023 that the Investigative Committee had opened a terrorism case; Ukrainska Pravda reported the same on 6 June 2023. OSCE (Delegation of the Russian Federation)

  6. 2022–Outcome not on recordUAH 17bn claimed (almost)
    Ukrhydroenergo claim against Russia for damage to the Kakhovka HPP and an unfinished wind plant
    European Court of Human Rights (as recorded by Babel) · International court · Ukrhydroenergo → Russian Federation

    In September 2022, before the dam was destroyed, Ukrhydroenergo filed a claim of almost UAH 17 billion for damage to the Kakhovka HPP and an unfinished wind plant on Snake Island. Babel

  7. 2024–Outcome not on record
    Ukrhydroenergo investment-arbitration procedure over the destruction of the HPP
    Investment arbitration (forum not named in the source) · Arbitration · Ukrhydroenergo → Russian Federation

    In June 2024 Ukrhydroenergo started an investment-arbitration procedure over the destruction of the HPP. On 15 October 2024 it cancelled the tender for legal services and said it would hold talks with the government, describing the decision as "in line with Ukraine's broader national agenda". Ukrainska Pravda

  8. Ongoing
    Council of Europe Register of Damage for Ukraine: environmental-damage category
    Register of Damage for Ukraine (Council of Europe) · International court · Claimants registering damage (category covers damage to the country's environment and natural resources) → Not specified in the source

    On 30 September 2026 the Register opened its last claim categories, "including damage to the country's environment and natural resources", bringing the total to 43. It had received 195,000 claims, with some 65,000 recorded. The convention on an International Claims Commission had been signed by 39 states and the EU and ratified by nine states plus the EU. Council of Europe

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Reservoir drained
14.4 km³ (72.5%)
By 13 June 2023, per UNEP; about 18 km³ passed through the lower Dnipro over about 14 days
Flooded downstream
620 km²
On 9 June 2023, per UNOSAT, within an analysed area of 19,000 km²
Fish loss confirmed by the government
11,388 tons
Cited by UNEP; a 2025 paper gives around 20,000 tons
Ecosystem-service losses
US$14.1 billion
RDNA4 estimate, 51 percent of forest and environment losses

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court case

Nature

  • Disputed Value of the environmental damage
  • Disputed Fish lost in the breach
  • Disputed Area of forest flooded or damaged
  • Disputed Share of the reservoir that drained
  • Disputed Scale of the effect on the north-western Black Sea
  • Disputed Rebuild the dam and reservoir, or not

Money

  • None on record Environmental damage stated by Minister Strilets (4 October 2023) — UAH 146 billion; about 10% of all assessed war damage to the environment, per the minister.
  • None on record Rebuild of the HPP, Ukrhydroenergo CEO (18 July 2023) — US$1–1.2 billion and seven years.
  • None on record Rebuild of the dam, President Zelensky (24 December 2025) — About EUR 2 billion.
  • None on record State-budget allocation for the consequences, by 2 August 2023 — UAH 4.3 billion (about US$124 million per the source).
  • None on record Three new water mains, 145 km, Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development — At least UAH 13.5 billion; 87% complete on 8 December 2023.

Court

  • Unclear Data on the destruction provided to the ICC Prosecutor: outcome not on record.
  • Unclear Ukrhydroenergo claim against Russia for damage to the Kakhovka HPP and an unfinished wind plant: outcome not on record.
  • Unclear Ukrhydroenergo investment-arbitration procedure over the destruction of the HPP: outcome not on record.

Accounts

  • Disputed Responsibility for the destruction of the dam
  • Disputed Reservoir water level before the breach

Record

  • None on record None on record: insurance policy or payout for the Kakhovka HPP, the dam or the environmental damage.
  • None on record None on record: a court ruling on the destruction of the dam, as of October 2026.
  • None on record None on record: a suspicion notice or indictment under the ecocide article, as of June 2026; prosecutors said a forensic examination by more than 20 specialists was under way.
  • None on record None on record: a finding by the OSCE as an institution on responsibility; the OSCE documents on the event are statements by participating-state delegations, each carrying the notice "The OSCE Secretariat bears no responsibility for the content of this document".
  • Not measured Not measured: UNEP's rapid assessment does not cover the full impacts on irrigation, drinking water and industrial water, including for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, or the human-health impacts.
  • Insufficient Insufficient: UNEP cites "the lack of first-hand data and access to the territories affected"; the grain size of the sediments "was not known to the authors" and the exact properties of the released oil are unknown.
  • Unclear Not measured: the PDNA states that validating the damages "has been impossible", that damage and losses on occupied territory "remain unknown", and that data on damage to fisheries assets "was not available".
  • Insufficient Insufficient: of 12 Emerald Network sites, the PDNA says "for the rest, no information is available on the scale and area of impacts"; it values 7 of them and 5 Ramsar sites.
  • Not measured Not measured: RDNA3 states that water pollution from the breach "was out of scope of this assignment" and that irrigation losses from the dam destruction "have not yet been assessed".
  • Unclear Unclear: the RDNA4 environment needs table excludes "Kakhovka Dam recovery estimates".
  • Insufficient Insufficient: the 2025 Black Sea study states that the war prohibited field investigations in the north-western Black Sea and that deeper-water and seabed effects are not observable by optical satellites.
  • Self-reported only Self-reported only: the Kakhovka Platform coalition states that the 2023 rebuild decision was made "without public discussion" and would proceed "without an environmental impact assessment".
  • Disputed Disputed: figures differ on fish loss (11,388 tons per the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food via UNEP; around 20,000 tons per a 2025 paper), on flooded forest (11,294 ha per FAO; over 64,000 ha per Suspilne, which names no source), and on the share of the reservoir drained (72.5% per UNEP; about 90% per the 2025 paper).
  • Disputed Disputed: figures differ on facilities affected. UNEP identified 54 pollution hotspots; the PDNA identified 192 hazardous facilities.
  • Disputed Disputed: figures differ on Emerald Network sites. UNEP counts ten as directly affected; the PDNA counts 12.
  • Unclear Unclear: the status of the Ukrhydroenergo arbitration procedure after 15 October 2024; the source gives no claimed amount.

Did the harm stop?

The breach was a single event on 6 June 2023, and the reservoir drained over about 14 days. RDNA4 states that 19 months later the ecosystem services had still not been restored, and in October 2026 the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council chairman reported desertification, falling groundwater and dust storms in Nikopol district and Tomakivka.

Who paid?

No compensation for the environmental damage is on record. The state budget of Ukraine allocated UAH 4.3 billion for the consequences by 2 August 2023 and the new water mains cost at least UAH 13.5 billion; Czech, US and Japanese contributions funded UNEP's sediment assessment. The Register of Damage for Ukraine opened its environmental-damage category on 30 September 2026.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers✓ International bodies

Government and regulators

  1. Statement by Maxim Buyakevich, PC.DEL/776/23
    OSCE (Delegation of the Russian Federation) · 2023-06-08
  2. Statement at 1048th FSC Plenary, FSC.DEL/239/23
    OSCE (Delegation of Ukraine) · 2023-06-07
  3. Statement by Ambassador Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, PC.DEL/786/23
    OSCE (Delegation of Ukraine) · 2023-06-08

Press and investigations

  1. Research reveals pre-collapse monitoring of Kakhovka dam, Ukraine
    ScienceDaily (University of Houston release) · 2024-04-04

Communities and civil society

Researchers

  2. The biogeochemical response of the north-western Black Sea to the Kakhovka Dam breach
    Communications Earth & Environment (Jiang D. et al.) · 2025
  4. Initial stages of revegetation at the bottom of the drained Kakhovka Reservoir
    Ukrainian Botanical Journal 82(5) (Kuzemko A.A. et al.) · 2025
  6. Post-Breach Landscape Transformation of the Former Kakhovka Reservoir Bed
    Journal of Landscape Ecology (Magas N.I.) · 2026-09-19

International bodies

  2. Post-Disaster Needs Assessment: 2023 Kakhovka Dam Disaster, Ukraine
    Government of Ukraine and United Nations · 2023-10
  3. Ukraine Third Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA3)
    World Bank, Government of Ukraine, European Union, United Nations · 2024-02
  4. Ukraine Fourth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4)
    World Bank, Government of Ukraine, European Union, United Nations · 2025-02
  5. Kakhovka Reservoir Sediments Assessment, Final Substantive Report
    UNEP / Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic · 2025-03
  7. EU Statement, PC 1429, PC.DEL/859/23
    OSCE (European Union) · 2023-06-22

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Groundwater
Water held underground in soil and rock, drawn through wells.
Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
The Council of Europe's court in Strasbourg, which rules on complaints that a state has violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
Land titling
Formal legal recognition of ownership of land.

Bonds and banking

Arranger
The bank that structures and sells a bond or loan deal, usually for a fee.