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Kyiv Hydroelectric Station [Kyivska HES]

Part of the Dnipro Cascade of Hydroelectric Stations, the station was constructed between 1960 and 1968 on the Dnipro River near the city of Vyshhorod. With 20 generators, the Kyiv Hydroelectric Station has a capacity of 361,200 kW and an average annual output of 767 million kWh. Besides the station building, the Kyiv Hydroelectric Station includes 75 km of dams, which hold back the waters of the Kyiv Reservoir, and a one-chamber lock.

The Kiev reservoir is located north of the Ukrainian capital in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, as well as in the Gomel region of Belarus. Formed by the dam of the hydroelectric power station of the same name. Completed in 1964-66. The area is 922 square kilometers.

Kyiv HPP is the first (upper) rung of the Dnipro cascade of hydroelectric power stations, located on the Dnipro River and a few kilometers from Kyiv. The station is part of the structure of the branch "Cascade of Kyiv HPPs and HPPs" of PJSC "Ukrhydroenergo". The Kyiv HPP was built in a record time: 1960-1968. The main feature of the HPP building is the use of horizontal capsule hydraulic aggregates, which made it possible to design a combined, spillway-type building. The use of horizontal units simplified the geometry of the flow path, as well as the structural forms of the entire building as a whole.

The construction of the Kyiv hydroelectric power station began in according to the project developed by the leading design and research institute "UkrHydroProekt". The construction was carried out by the team of the Kremenchukgesbud trust. Many of the latest organizational and constructive solutions were implemented during construction. In particular, reducing the cost of construction and shortening its term while improving the quality of building structures was achieved thanks to the use of precast reinforced concrete. New technologies of high-frequency assembly of large concrete structures were also introduced for the first time at the Kyiv HPP. Simultaneously with the construction of the hydroelectric power station, a residential complex for hydropower workers, schools, kindergartens, shops and canteens was built on the right bank of the Dnieper. December 1964 saw the start-up of the first HPP unit.

The Kyiv Hydroelectric Station had a history of worker resistance to the Soviet regime’s economic and nationality policies. In 1968 former workers of the station—Nazarenko, Kondriukov, and Karpenko—were arrested by the KGB for distributing leaflets at Kyiv University and the Kyiv Agricultural Academy calling for resistance to forced Russification. In May 1969 a major strike, led by I. Hryshchuk, occurred at the station. In 1969 a petition to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union signed by over 600 workers of the Kyiv Hydroelectric Station and residents of Vyshhorod demanded I. Hryshchuk’s release and an end to management and government violations of workers’ rights.

One of the most famous Ukrainian dissidents, Viacheslav Chornovil, served as secretary of the Komsomol Committee of the Kyiv Hydroelectric Station and as a journalist at the construction site; he was active in the struggle for better working and living conditions. In the early 1960s the labor force at the site consisted of 70–75 percent Ukrainians, 20 percent Russians, and 2 percent Belarusians. Yet, almost all of the top jobs (construction chiefs and engineers, sectional and divisional managers, etc) were held by Russians. Almost all the 127 Russian managers at the main installation came from Russia. Only 11 of them were born in Ukraine.

The situation at the Kyiv Hydroelectric Station changed radically after the 1991 Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence. A major renovation of the station took place in 2018 and 2019.

After the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in 1986, radionuclides washed away by rains contaminated the bottom silt of the Kiev Reservoir. During the years following the disaster, there were suggestions to drain the reservoir because it was too shallow. It appeared that, if done, this could have caused the tremendous amounts of silt to turn into radioactive dust, free to be dispersed by wind. In that case, scientists predict even more serious disaster than hyperflooding.

According to the Kiev environmentalist Vasily Kredo, the Kiev dam is one of the most dangerous objects on Earth. The construction is 93% emergency. According to the expert, Obolon will be the first to go under water - a 4-meter wave will cover it three minutes after the accident. In another two minutes, the water will reach Troyeshchyna, in 10 minutes - Podil, in 15 - Rusanivka. The rest of the territory of Ukraine may also fall - almost 30 cities, hundreds of towns and villages will be flooded.

However, Professor Viktor Vishnevsky recommends not to panic and recalls that the water level in the Kiev reservoir is 103 meters above sea level. And more than 90% of the territory of the capital is located at much higher elevations - usually 130-160 meters. Below 103 meters - only Podil and Obolon. However, these areas will not be threatened by large-scale flooding in the event of a dam failure. In the 1960s, when the Kyiv reservoir first gradually reached its full capacity (103 m above sea level), the floodplain of the Irpin’s lower reaches turned out to be three meters lower than the reservoir. The floodplain was protected from flooding by building both a protective dam and a pumping station that transferred water from the Irpin into the reservoir.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine on February 24 and launched a large-scale invasion. As a result of hostilities, by 26 February 2022 a number of overhead lines and substations were damaged and disconnected from the power grid. Ukrainian air defense shot down a Russian missile flying in the direction of the Kyiv Reservoir dam. This was reported by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine in Telegram. "If the dam is destroyed, the flood will lead to catastrophic casualties and damage - including the flooding of residential areas of Kyiv and the suburbs," the report said.

In the second half of April 2022, the waters of the Dnieper surprisingly overflowed the banks in the Kiev region. The Ukrainian media, referring to the data of the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, reported that the water had almost reached a critical level, explaining this with heavy precipitation. However, the water of the Dnieper in Kiev has not spilled like this over the past decades.

Kyiv Reservoir - Kozarovychi Dam

Water was used as a weapon of war in the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a natural barrier that the Ukrainian army used to save Kiev when Russia was knocking on the Ukrainian capital's door. The village of Demydiv was flooded after the water overflowed, but according to the citizens themselves, it was the price to pay to save Kiev from the Kremlin troops. The spread of water throughout the affected territories was able to thwart a Russian assault on the capital and undoubtedly gave valuable time for defence preparations.

In early March 2022, as Russian troops 155th Naval Infantry Brigade and the 108th Tula Airborn Division approached Kyiv, the last stronghold on the way to the Ukrainian capital was the village of Moshchun. Located some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from capital Kyiv, Moschun was in the path of Russian forces that entered Ukraine from Belarus and bore down on the capital in the early days of the ongoing war. The village quickly fell to the Russians, who obliterated it with incessant bombardment, leaving 80% of all of its houses either damaged or completely wrecked.

Russian marines built three pontoon bridges to gain a foothold across the Irpin River. After days of heavy combat, Ukrainian forces of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade and the 72nd Brigade managed to destroy two pontoons but asked their high command to retreat due to heavy losses. They were denied, as that would have opened the road to Kyiv.

Instead, by blowing up a dam of the Kyiv Reservoir, Ukrainian forces flooded Irpin -- allowing them to regroup and push back Russian troops who were suddenly stuck in a swamp. Ukrainian forces blew up the bridge in Demydiv village and the protective dam of the Kyiv Water Reservoir between Kozarovychi and Lyutizh villages. The dam at the entrance to Demydiv, near the village of Kozarovychi. The dam controlled the entry of water to the Irpin River from the Kyiv Reservoir. The water level in the river is six meters lower than the water level in the Kyiv Sea.

The water that rushed into the river valley created a wide impregnable barrier against enemy troops and thus greatly facilitated Kyiv’s defense. 2,500 hectares of floodplain lands were engulfed, radically changing both the location’s ecology and Kyiv’s defense strategy overnight. Russian troops were unable to conduct a forced crossing of the floodplain wetlands and the entire offensive bogged down.

The massive rush of floodwater stopped the Russian forces and made it impossible for them to bring their tanks and artillery closer to Kyiv. On March 19, the Russians finally fled Moshchun. However, while the water helped the Ukrainian army, it flooded the local villages and damaged homes.

Washington Post journalists marveled at the return of “hydraulic warfare” to Europe. The New York Times published a multimedia essay about life in the flooded villages freed from occupation.