After strikes on the dam of the Belgorod reservoir, which began in late October, water started leaving the reservoir. According to the report, after the strike on October 25 the outflow increased significantly: water moved downstream along the Siverskyi Donets, flooding nearby areas and raising the level of tributary rivers.
The outlet Pepel suggested that the aim of the attack may have been to flood Russian military positions. The media later published photographs of military equipment stuck on waterlogged roads. At the same time, a risk emerged for the Belgorod thermal power plant, which uses water from the Siverskyi Donets for cooling, and authorities quickly built a small new dam near the plant to reduce the outflow.
In Shebekino, located downstream from the reservoir, the level of the Nezhegol River rose. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov urged residents to move to temporary accommodation centers, but, according to the article, most did not respond. Some locals linked the rise in water not only to the damage to the dam, but also to heavy rainfall in the area.
Expert assessment
Yevgeny Simonov, an expert with the Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine, said a large uncontrolled breach had formed in the hydraulic structure, apparently after one of the sluices was hit.
Simonov said flooding on the scale of the Kakhovka dam disaster should not be expected because the volume of water released is limited by the size of the breach and because the Belgorod reservoir is much smaller.
He compared the figures: the nominal volume of the Belgorod reservoir is 0.076 cubic km, while the Kakhovka reservoir held 18.18 cubic km. Even if erosion widens the gap and the dam is destroyed, the expert does not expect a critical scenario, partly because some of the water has already drained away.
Simonov added that Belgorod is unlikely to lose its water supply because the city relies primarily on artesian sources rather than the reservoir. At the same time, flooding is possible farther downstream, including near Vovchansk in Kharkiv region. He also warned of likely environmental consequences: water may spread into the floodplain and wash fish out of their wintering pits. He described rebuilding the dam as costly and dependent above all on the region's financial resources.