WOULD WATER BE A WEAPON OF WAR IN UKRAINE?
Kyiv Dam Under Protection:
Unfortunately, the invasion operation launched by Russia against Ukraine and where it will stop is unfortunately continuing. At the beginning of the operation, it was announced that Russia's targets were military bases, airports, and infrastructures that are mostly military targets. However, concerns increased after the missile crashed near a nuclear power plant and caused a fire. What caused these concerns to increase was the perception created by Russia that they would target the Nuclear Power Plant if necessary. This situation gave rise to the idea that if the military operation is prolonged, the parties may turn to different targets.
In one of the analyzes made by military operations analysts and defense experts on TV these days, it was also included that the Russian Armored troops trying to surround the Ukrainian city of Kiev would be stopped by an artificial flood to be created by opening the Kyiv dam.
This article was written mainly to explain this situation and to draw attention to the use of water as a military target and weapon.
Water resources have been used both as a military target and a weapon of war since the ancient wars. In the recent past, the concern that dams could be used as a weapon of war arose after ISIS took over the Mosul Dam in Iraq. If this dam was destroyed, there was a risk of flooding Baghdad.
Dinyeper River
The Importance of the Dnieper River:
The Dnieper river, which carries an annual average of 1500 m3 of water per second where it empties into the Black Sea, has an indispensable importance for Ukraine both for irrigation and energy production. The Dnieper river also serves as a waterway to the Black Sea, where coal, ore, mineral building materials, timber and grain are transported. The Dnieper flows through the territory of Ukraine for about 1100 km, and this river is a kind of national symbol for Ukrainians.
During the Soviet Union, the water of the Dnieper river was developed for multi-purposes. In 1932, the first hydroelectric power station of the river was completed in Zaporizhzhya. However, this dam, which was completely destroyed by the German army during the Second World War, was rebuilt in 1947 by increasing its capacity. The Kakhovka hydroelectric power stations were built on the Dnieper in 1958, Kremenchuk in 1961, Dniprodzerzhinsk in 1965, Kyiv in 1966 and Kaniv in 1973.
The water of the Dnieper river was also used for irrigation of the surrounding plains, and the water taken from the Kakhovka Reservoir was transported to the Crimean peninsula by the 400 km long North Crimean Canal, the construction of which was completed in 1971. The flow of this water was interrupted by Ukraine in 2014 with the Russian invasion of Crimea. The Russian army, which entered Ukraine with the last military operation, destroyed the structure that cut the water to the canal on February 27 and opened the waterway.
Dams on the Dnieper River
On the Dnieper river, there is a cascade-shaped dam system listed above. This dam system also performs a very important function such as preventing floods. The water reservoirs of the Dnieper River in Ukraine threaten to create a large-scale, man-made flood disaster if they are destroyed by impacts such as operational failure, earthquake, terrorist attack or even destruction by the Ukrainian military. There are many residential areas and irrigated areas along the banks of the Dnieper river. The land around the river has wide flat plains and flooding in these areas may spread over a wide area.
The Dnieper reservoirs pose another major threat. The Dnieper dam system is considered particularly dangerous due to its proximity to the Chernobyl Zone. After the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in 1986, radioactive polluted swab material washed away by the rains deposited at the bottom of the Kyiv Reservoir and other reservoirs. In the years following the disaster, draining the Kyiv Reservoir was considered because it was too shallow, but not implemented due to the threat of wind-borne radioactive dust that could affect all of Europe.
Kyiv Dam and the city of Kyiv
In the event that the water is left completely down due to a problem that will occur in the Kyiv Dam, especially the densely populated low-lying settlements of Kiev will be flooded. In addition, after such a discharge, radioactive substances from the Chernobyl disaster, which are in the reservoirs, will also be emitted.
Drills to Protect the Dam from Terrorism Have Been Held
Between 2001 and 2003, exercises were organized by the Security Service of Ukraine against a possible terrorist attack on the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant. New measures were taken in 2005 following a false case of terrorist threat, in which a bomb was planted on a cargo train crossing the Kyiv Dam Reservoir. In 2012, the former Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant manager stated that the dam's ability to withstand physical threats other than a major military attack was guaranteed. He also stated that the dam has an emergency plan for these threats.
Black Sea outlet of the Dnieper River
News of Missile Attack on Kyiv Dam:
Interfax-Ukrain news agency reported that on February 26, 2022, at 03:50 on the same day, the Ukrainian air defense shot down a Russian missile advancing towards the Kyiv Dam, located north of Kiev. In the same news, it was also stated that if the dam collapses, most of Kiev, including the Obolon and Podil regions, and other settlements and villages below will be flooded and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people will be endangered.
In the news, it was stated that the collapse of the Kyiv dam may even lead to an accident at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant on the banks of the Dnieper River, and the consequences of this would be grave not only for Ukraine but also for the entire Black Sea region.
Would Water Become a Weapon of War in Ukraine?
In these days when the military operation initiated by Russia with the aim of invading Ukraine continues, experts talk about the uncertainty about the stage of the conflicts. Some experts, on the other hand, state that there is a possibility of this process going out of control and attacks on targets other than military targets.
Explaining that Russia is trying to surround the city of Kyiv, some experts stated that they have heard that the Ukrainian Army is trying to open the gates of the Kyiv Dam and flood some parts of the city.
It is predicted that the violence of the clashes will increase even more after the partial ceasefire and security corridor creation process, which has been partially implemented in recent days, is completed.
It is also known that the Ukrainian Army is preparing for this invasion, which is expected to intensify in the form of residential conflicts in the city of Kyiv in the coming days. Among these plans is the possibility of using the water from the Kyiv Dam as a defensive weapon. Even a statement was made that this was started. In addition, there were news that Russia launched a Missile attack on the Dam and that this was prevented.
The risk of destruction of this dam may increase under the conditions of chaos that may occur in case the residential conflicts start and last for a long time in Kiev. In fact, this dam is a water structure that is thought to carry the risk of terrorist attack. Ukrainian security forces have conducted exercises and prepared plans for the prevention of a terrorist attack on the dam in the past. This risk to the dam in Kiev, which has been seen before, has increased even more in this chaotic period when conflicts may get out of control. The destruction of the Kyiv Dam as a military target may be included in the plans of those who try to make this process even more uncontrolled. Such an operation would also affect other dams on the Dnieper River and a very large area. This effect may be reflected to the Black Sea as pollution.
Conclusion:
War is murder unless the future of a country is threatened. Also, water is a living right. More effective international efforts should be made to prevent the use of water resources and water structures as neither a war target nor a weapon of war.
