The damage and suffering caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. — ©️2023 The New York Times Company
SUNSET along the Kakhovka Reservoir in central Ukraine, especially in summer, used to be gorgeous: kids played in the shallow water near the shore, men fished and young couples walked under the pine trees as the last traces of sunlight reflected off the water.
But after the destruction of a major dam just downriver, that shimmering lake, one of Europe’s biggest, simply disappeared. Now all that remains is a 240km-long meadow.
Dam disaster
Serhii Bezhan, left, and Alex Bezhan, who were fishermen, walking along a stretch of the drained Kakhovka Reservoir, near the town of Kushuhum, in southern Ukraine, July 12, 2023. Environmentally, economically and in terms of human suffering, the destruction of the Kakhovka dam unleashed untold damage that, months later, still has many communities reeling. — ©️2023 The New York Times Company
Women carrying pails of clean drinking water delivered by a truck near the city of Zelenodolsk. — ©️2023 The New York Times Company
Volunteers delivering relief aid to residents trapped by floodwaters from the breached Kakhovka dam in Kherson. — ©️2023 The New York Times Company
Residents passing along a street in Nikopol, Ukraine, with the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the background, behind an expanse of sand exposed after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. — ©️2023 The New York Times Company
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