Strikes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant: Chronology
Russian MFAThe first information about the Ukrainian military mining the dam and hydraulic structures of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant appeared as far back as September 15, 2014. Reports by the Voenkor.Info agency indicated that Ukrainian sappers began installing engineering ammunition at these facilities in order to prevent the Novorossiya separatists from gaining control over them.
The Kakhovskaya HPP came under the control of the Russian military on February 24, 2022, the first day of the special military operation. There were no hostilities in the area of the dam. During the retreat, Ukrainian sappers only mined the floodgate mechanisms of the North Crimean Canal. The explosion was averted.
In the summer of 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine began regularly shelling the town of Novaya Kakhovka and the hydroelectric power plant.
On July 11, 2022, the HPP was hit by a HIMARS MLRS missile.
On July 18, 2022, the control room of the shipping floodgate was damaged during an attack on the HPP.
On July 24, 2022, the plant came under fire from HIMARS.
On July 26, 2022, large-calibre shells hit the hydroelectric dam.
On the night of July 29-30, 2022, the HPP was again hit by HIMARS.
On August 5, 2022, the hydroelectric power plant came under a massive shelling attack. It was hit by HIMARS, Olkha MLRS, and Tochka-U.
On August 7, 2022, the plant was hit by a HIMARS missile.
On August 9, 2022, the dam once again came under fire.
On August 12, 2022, three of the six turbines of the power plant were damaged as a result of shelling. The HPP was switched to emergency mode (half of the design capacity).
On August 18, 2022, large-calibre shells were fired at the hydroelectric dam.
On August 19, 2022, the plant came under fire from Olkha and Tochka.
On August 21, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on the hydroelectric power plant.
On August 24, 2022, the plant was subjected to massive shelling from HIMARS.
On August 27, 2022, the HPP was hit by Olkha and Tochka.
On August 28, 2022, a missile attack was launched from HIMARS MLRS against the hydroelectric dam.
On August 29, 2022, the plant once again came under fire from HIMARS.
On August 30, 2022, a missile attack was launched on the hydroelectric power plant.
On September 1, 2022, the plant came under fire from HIMARS.
On September 2, 2022, large-calibre shells were fired at the HPP.
On September 5, 2022, the plant was hit by missiles.
On September 6, 2022, a HIMARS missile attack was launched on the HPP.
On September 8, 2022, the regional authorities reported that the HPP and access roads to it had been shelled.
On September 10, 2022, HIMARS hit Novaya Kakhovka and the HPP. The dam was not hit.
On October 18, 2022, Sergey Surovikin, commander of the special military operation, reported damage to the Antonovsky Bridge and the dam of the Kakhovskaya HPP as a result of shelling from HIMARS MLRS.
On October 21, 2022, Russia circulated a letter in the UN Security Council in which it called for preventing Ukraine’s provocations against the Kakhovskaya HPP. The document stated that “the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been shelling the city of Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson Region for five months. Up to 120 missiles per day are launched.”
On October 24, 2022, the hydroelectric power plant and civilian infrastructure in the area of Novaya Kakhovka were hit by HIMARS and Olkha.
On November 6, 2022, the HPP was hit by six HIMARS missiles. One of them hit a floodgate, which was damaged.
On November 17, 2022, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that Ukrainian troops had reached the right bank of the Dnieper along its entire length, including in the area of the Kakhovskaya HPP.
In total, in the summer-autumn of 2022, more than three hundred missiles were fired at the Kakhovskaya HPP from HIMARS alone.
On December 29, 2022, The Washington Post published the following statement made by Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrey Kovalchuk, commander of the Ukrainian troops in the Kherson Region: “The Ukrainians conducted a test strike with a HIMARS launcher on one of the floodgates at the Nova Kakhovka dam, making three holes in the metal to see if the Dnieper’s water could be raised enough to stymie Russian crossings but not flood nearby villages. The test was a success.” The date of the strike was not specified.
On March 14, 2023, Head of the Novokakhovsky District Vladimir Leontyev stated that the HPP is hit regularly; in addition, sabotage and reconnaissance units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are regularly attempting to penetrate the territory and the dam. He said that snipers are also working actively, preventing repair and maintenance work on hydraulic structures.