State irrigation systems suffer losses due to Kakhovka HEPP's destruction worth UAH 160 billion

Damage to the state property of irrigation systems and canals as a result of the Russian occupiers blasting the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant amounts to UAH 150-160 billion.

This follows from a statement by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

"The exact data will be determined after the de-occupation of the territories. There is a high probability that the systems will be destroyed or dismantled by the occupiers. Without the restoration of the water supply source, it is impossible to talk about irrigated agriculture in the south of Ukraine in the near future. We will remind that the Kakhovka reservoir was the source of irrigation for 94% systems in the Kherson Region, 74% in the Zaporizhzhia Region, and 30% in the Dnipropetrovsk Region. The Kakhovka reservoir was a source of power for 584,000 hectares of land, which received water for irrigation," the message reads.

In particular, according to the report, the Kakhovka main canal served 326,000 hectares, and the North Crimean – 39,700 hectares of agricultural land.

In addition, through a number of systems in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Dnipropetrovsk Regions, a separate water intake was carried out from the reservoir for a total irrigation area of 218.3 thousand hectares.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, several million tons of the Ukrainian harvest may be lost due to flooding due to the destruction of the Kakhovka HEPP by the Russian occupiers.

On the night of June 6, the Russian army blew up the dam of the Kakhovka HEPP, which led to an uncontrolled discharge of a large amount of water downstream of the Dnieper River.