WATCH: Ukrainian Photographers Reveal Devastating Aftermath of Kakhovka Dam Explosion

In a display of the catastrophic consequences caused by the explosion of the Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant (HPP), Ukrainian photographers Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov have released a series of photographs capturing the grim reality in Kherson city and Kherson region.

The pictures show civilians being moved out of the areas most severely impacted by the disaster, illustrating the massive devastation caused by another Russian terrorist attack.

The photographs not only depict the scale of the disaster but also expose the gravity of the situation faced by the affected population.

“This is what Kherson looks like now. A city that has been occupied, it has suffered numerous brutal shelling, and now – a flood. Whole areas are underwater. The water reaches the roofs of buildings,” the Liberovs wrote, describing the scenes captured in their photographs.

Photo: Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov.

“It’s impossible to estimate the scale of the destruction now. As well as to understand how many victims there are.”

Photo: Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov.

On the night of Tuesday, June 6, Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka HPP. Cities and towns downriver along the Dnipro, including part of Kherson – a total of 80 settlements – were in the flood zone.

Photo: Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov.

The undermining of the hydroelectric power plant is likely the largest man-made disaster of recent decades. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the dam’s destruction a “monumental humanitarian, economic and ecological catastrophe.”

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He added: “But one thing is clear:  this is another devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” 

Photo: Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov.

The hydroelectric power station is completely destroyed and it will have to be rebuilt from nothing.

“The cost of building a new hydroelectric power plant could be about $1 billion,” commented First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko.

“It will take at least five years to restore the dam alone, and the cumulative effect of the humanitarian and environmental consequences of the explosion will only increase.”