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As a result of the detonation by the Russian armed forces of the Kakhovka HPP, tourist facilities, in particular those protected by UNESCO or protected at the international level, were inundated. This was reported today, June 7, in the press service of the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with reference to the head of the State Tourism Development Agency Maryana Oleskiv, FREEDOM informs.
80% of the territory of the Nizhnyodniprovskyi National Nature Park, which was famous among domestic and European biologists for its rare floodplain forests, swamps and sandy steppe, is flooded. As the head of State Tourism informs, 32 species of unique plants were growing in the park, which were included in the World Red List of the IUCN. Most likely, this unique ecosystem of Europe is destroyed forever.
“As of today, the water level near the islands has risen by 3 meters on an area of more than 77,000 hectares. The intensity of flooding is decreasing, but due to the destruction of the dam, water is still coming. Landslides are observed, rock destruction products are carried by water, buildings and equipment of the NPP suffer,” the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine specified.
The house-museum of Ostap Vyshny in the village of Krynky — one of the tourist magnets of the region — was flooded. The Oleksiy Shovkunenko Kherson Art Museum was also in the flood zone.
“The sunken archaeological pearl of the Kherson region is the ancient Russian port city of Oleshnya on the island of Velikiy Potemkin in the area of the Pudova Strait. The Ochakivska Gate, a part of the defense fortifications of Kherson, built in 1783, is under threat of flooding. An architectural monument of national importance,” the message reads.
The “Green Farms of Tavria” complex, based on the site of ancient farms, may also be flooded. An authentic museum of Ukrainian folk life of the 15th-20th centuries was located in this place, as well as the famous salty pink lakes.
“The picturesque village of Tyaginka, where archaeological excavations were conducted before the military aggression and settlements of the Bronze Age and Scythian times were discovered, as well as a medieval settlement, will most likely also be under water, and unique historical finds will be lost,” the publication notes.
In addition, the Kinburn spit, located on the territory of the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve, which is protected by UNESCO, may be partially flooded.
“This location with more than a century of history of nature conservation traditions, which is home to more than a hundred species of birds and more than seven hundred rare plants, may lose part of its unique flora and fauna,” said Maryana Oleskiv.
The flooded Kherson floodplains, which were home to many species of birds, are included in the Red and Green Books of Ukraine, and are also protected at the international level.
We will remind you that on Tuesday, June 6, Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station located on the Dnipro River in the Kherson region. The Kherson regional military administration has announced evacuation from areas of potential flooding. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called an emergency meeting of the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. After the occupiers blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant, the water level in the Dnipro River is rising rapidly. 16,000-17,000 people were at risk.
