Remembering the Kakhovka Dam destruction tragedy through the experiences of those affected

The devastating flooding swept away homes, livelihoods, farmland, and critical infrastructure. It disrupted water supply systems across the region, leaving small cities, towns, and villages without reliable access to safe drinking water. For many families, the consequences still linger, they continue to face displacement, loss, and uncertainty. 

On this day, the UN in Ukraine stands with the people affected by the tragedy and their families. Through their experience, we want to remind about the human cost of the Kakhovka Dam destruction and the immense burden people continue to bear after three years.  

Anna

"It was shocking how rapidly our village was flooded. Our greatest concern was that the water might displace landmines and transport them into the village. That was the most frightening," shares Anna, who, with her family, managed to escape their home just before the water arrived.  

The house was damaged: with UNHCR support, her family repaired the walls and floors of their flood-damaged home. 

Nataliia and her two children

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“We moved without any money, we had nothing. Sometimes we didn’t know how to buy bread.” Nataliia and her two children fled Bilozerka when their village got flooded after the destruction of the dam. 

“I brought two bags with me – one with clothes and one with school stuff,” adds 13-year-old Yelizaveta. 

The family received support from UNICEF to meet basic needs and support education for the younger child with special needs.  

Mykyta

“Yesterday, at around six in the evening, the water began to rise and flooded the ground floors. We stayed in our apartment and waited for rescuers,” says Mykyta, who was evacuated with his grandmother by boat. 

He also saved his dog, Georgik. “I wouldn’t have left him there alone,” admits Mykyta, who did not take any personal belongings with him, but did not forget his friend.  

Yevheniia

“Everything in the house is now filled with water. But we don’t know how long these supplies will last. The water has already been cut off. And we are afraid that the electricity will also be cut off, because they have warned about that too.

We went through this during the intense shelling, when we sat with the children for a month without water or electricity. And it is very hard to go through this again, especially in the summer for the children.” 

Yevheniia, a mother of five children living in Kherson who survived devastating attacks on how they had to face the consequences of the dam destruction.

Olena

“There was massive flooding in the village. Many houses close to the river were completely flooded and damaged, and people could not stay there. We were lucky, our house still stands, but we have not had functioning water piping since.” 

Single mother Olena had returned to Kokhanivka after it came back under Ukrainian control, shortly before the Kakhovka Dam destruction devastated the village. Olena received UNCHR support to repair the damaged house.

Vitalii Hlushchenko and the citizens of Pokrov

“There was no water at all for almost a month,” recalls Vitalii Hlushchenko, Head of Pokrovvodokanal Municipal Enterprise and resident of the city of Pokrov, Dnipropetrovsk oblast. 

“We used what remained in the reservoirs. Donors helped by delivering water. We placed large tanks throughout the city and filled them using water trucks. People came with canisters, buckets and bottles.”  

IOM supported repairs of the water supply system in this and other villages of the Dnipropetrovsk region. 

Illia and his grandmother

“I had a dream of riding my bike to my grandmother’s. She lives in another district, in Kholodna Balka. The water hasn’t reached there yet, but the road has been flooded. The flood ruined my plans. And before that, the war shattered my plans, because during the shelling I was afraid to go outside,” says Illia, in tears.

While waiting for the train at UNICEF’s Spilno child-friendly space at the railway station, Illia tearfully remembers his grandmother, who stayed behind in flooded Kherson. 

Three years on, the United Nations continues to rebuild essential services amid ongoing war, restoring water supply in communities affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. At the same time, the UN is addressing the disaster’s environmental impact through research that highlights long-term risks to health and ecosystems, as well as by identifying solutions that would allow communities to safely use the former reservoir land for agriculture. 

Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law, and they must stop and never be repeated. The United Nations condemns any attack that affects the civilian population, wherever they occur. We will continue to support people in Ukraine as they rebuild their lives and look toward a more hopeful future.