Dam Safety

Russian missile strike hits Kyiv hydroelectric in Ukraine, but no major damage reported

Russian missile strikes launched early Monday morning appear to have struck the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant, but officials say the damage is limited.
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Russian missile strike hits Kyiv hydroelectric in Ukraine, but no major damage reported
Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant in Vyshhorod (By Ukrhydroenergo - https://uhe.gov.ua/, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92864185)

A Russian missile strike has reportedly hit the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant in Vyshhorod, Ukraine, although Ukrainian military officials say no major damage has occurred.

The missile strike, launched early Monday morning, was not limited to the dam, Ukrainian officials said, and damage was reported throughout the region, RBC Ukraine reports. Alleged social media footage of the attack shows fire on the road above the dam, while a second video appears to show a cruise missile hitting the water near the dam.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, said there are “no threats” to the dam after the attack, adding that it would be “impossible” to destroy the dam with missiles, Interfax-Ukraine reports. Additionally, Kovalenko argued that comparisons to the Kakhovka dam explosion last year are not accurate, as that incident featured “an explosion from inside.”

The 440 MW Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant is operated by PJSC Ukrhydroenergo, which has not yet commented on the incident, Interfax-Ukraine reports. It was constructed between 1960 to 1968, RBC-Ukraine reports, and throughout the 1990s and 2000s all of its units underwent reconstruction.

Earlier this year, Ihor Syrota, General Director of Ukrhydroenergo, said the largest Ukrainian hydroelectric plants will likely be difficult to destroy. With the Kyiv and Kaniv plants located in the center of the country, far from the front line, the Russians have to rely on penetrating attacks from cruise missiles, bombers and drones, typically launched outside of Ukraine’s borders, RBC-Ukraine reports.

Syrota added that that even if the Kyiv plant was destroyed, it would cause “flooding of basements in some parts of Kyiv.” He argued that catastrophic damage like what was seen in the Kakhovka dam explosion in Kherson is not a likely result from missile strikes. Several missile strikes in the same location could cause flooding, Syrota said, but not nearly to the same extent.