After Kakhovka dam destruction, Ukrainian farmer fought floods and saved crops

In the Kherson region, a Ukrainian farmer saved his future crops from flooding after the invading Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.

To protect the field with watermelons, he created a natural “defence” system with an earthen rampart and ditches, local media reported.

At the peak of the flooding, which lasted two days, farm workers with shovels threw earth where the water began to seep in. Farmer Viktor Svidersky showed a video of the saved field.

“Friends, I want to show you how the farmer fought the flood after the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station was blown up. You can see what a swale it made. The Bug River is further on, and the Bug reached almost over this rampart. In some places, it overflowed; guys with shovels and a tractor were raking it up and then throwing it over. There was water everywhere; it didn’t come into the field, it didn’t reach the watermelons. There are carrots and cucumbers further on… The water did not reach the field. The farmer fought for two days, he says, and then slept for a day. Fight to the last, and don’t give up for a second”.

Viktor Svidersky, a Ukrainian farmer in the Kherson region

Mr Svidersky also showed the trench the farmer dug near his field.

“The first ‘line of defence’ was behind the planting. The farmer dug the trenches with a plough. Then guys with shovels covered the holes, dug pits, and tractors dug such a huge rampart here,” Svidersky said.

Russian invading troops blew up the Kakhovka Reservoir dam, unleashed floods on towns and villages on the Dnipro River, on June 6, Ukrainian authorities reported.

The Ukrainian government stated that the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP, which has caused huge flooding in southern part of Ukraine, would have an impact on both agricultural production and exports.

As a major food producer, agricultural exports are a vital source of cash for Ukraine in the face of the economic blow caused by Russia’s war of aggression.

While Moscow and Kyiv have accused one other of the dam’s destruction, most experts believe a Russian strike using explosives within the dam operated by Russians is more likely. This area was seized by Russian troops during first days of February 2022 invasion and it was controlled by Russians.

The United States and the European Union have condemned the dam destruction as a Russian attack. Russian claims were debunked as fakes.

Since the beginning of the war, the EU and many of its member nations have regularly accused Russia of using food as a weapon.