The Ministry of Health of Ukraine warns about the possibility of deterioration of water quality in wells and open water bodies in the territories flooded as a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.
“There could be many substances dangerous to health at the bottom of the Kakhovskaya HPP. Chemicals, causative agents of infectious diseases from cemeteries, latrines, and landfills may end up in wells and open water bodies in the territory flooded as a result of the detonation of the hydroelectric power plant by a terrorist country,” the department’s statement published in telegram
Specialists are already working on the ground and taking water samples from reservoirs and wells.
To reduce the risk of infectious diseases, the Ministry of Health recommends following the following rules:
- drink only bottled or imported water
- take water for cooking and household needs only from proven sources
- boil or otherwise disinfect water taken for drinking, washing fruits, berries or dishes
- refuse products that have been submerged in water (even from preservation)
- wash your hands thoroughly with soap
- do not use clothes that were contaminated during flooding without washing and disinfection.
The Ministry of Health also warns that in the next 3-5 days in the Kherson region and some areas of Zaporizhzhia due to a rapid drop in the water level, there will be a plague of fish – the consumption of such fish is strictly prohibited, as there is a risk of botulism.
In the morning of June 7, the Kherson Regional Military Administration was informed about the possibility an increase in the water level by another meter during the next 20 hours. At the same time, according to the authorities, the intensity of flooding is decreasing.
As the general director of the state company “Ukrhydroenergo” Ihor Syrota told Radio Svoboda, the peak of the spill of water from the Kakhovsky Reservoir due to the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP dam, it will be in the morning of June 7, and on the third or fourth day, the water will begin to recede.
At dawn on June 6, it became known about the partial the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP dam. Ukrainian government accused of undermining the dam Russian occupation forces that have seized and control the hydroelectric plant since February 24, 2022. Russian occupation authorities instead asserts, that it was the Armed Forces that fired at and damaged the Kakhovskaya HPP dam at night. The destruction of this hydraulic structure, say experts, posed a risk a large number of civilians and created a threat to the cooling system of the Zaporizhia NPP reactors.