As a result of the blowing up the Kakhovka dam by Russian occupiers, the damage caused to the environment of Ukraine currently amounts to more than 1.5 billion US dollars.

According to the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets, the verification of new data is currently underway. The amount of damage can reach hundreds of billions of hryvnias.

‘We understand that some ecosystems have been lost forever. They will not recover. We have lost endemic animal species. These are species that existed only in one place on the Earth – in the south of Ukraine. We have lost half of the forest in this area’, the minister stated.

According to him, a plan is being prepared for the recovery of the region that suffered from the explosion of the Kakhovka dam. The Ministry of Environment, together with scientists, is working out specific steps to preserve ecosystems.

As reported earlier, Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka hydro power plant, which is located in the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region in the town of Nova Kakhovka.

Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal said that up to 80 towns and villages are in a dangerous zone with the threat of flooding.

Approximately 10,000 hectares of agricultural land are flooded on the right bank of Kherson region and several times more on the left bank, which is currently under Russian occupation.

President Zelensky addressed called on the international organizations to provide aid for the people in the flooded areas.

According to the estimates, the Kakhovka reservoir lost 72% of water.

Damages to the reclamation systems and canals reached UAH 150-160 billion.