Deadly blast damages world's longest ammonia pipeline in Kharkiv

Gulf Today Report

Only days have passed since the catastrophe of the explosion of the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnieper River, which caused an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe, and the destruction of dozens of villages.

The Togliatti-Odesa pipeline transporting toxic ammonia was destroyed in a blast.

Russia accused Ukraine of blowing up the Togliatti-Odesa pipeline to transport ammonia, and the Russian Ministry of Defense said, in a statement, that “a Ukrainian sabotage group exploded the Togliatti-Odesa pipeline to transport ammonia,” the longest pipeline in the world, which is about 2,400 kilometers long, and connects the Russian city of Togliatti on the banks of the Volga River, in the Ukrainian city located on the Black Sea.

The ministry added that this "terrorist act" took place, on Monday evening, near the small village of Masyotovka in the Kharkiv region (northeast), which is under the control of the Ukrainian army. The line transported more than 2.5 million tonnes of ammonia — the main component of fertilizers — mainly to the European Union.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, on Wednesday, that "the only party that had no interest in resuming the activity of the ammonia pipeline was the Kiev regime."

The Kremlin warned that the explosion in a major ammonia pipeline would have a "negative" impact on talks to renew the Ukrainian grain export agreement through the Black Sea.

"This is another thing that really complicates the situation from the perspective of extending the agreement," Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian presidency, told reporters. "It can only have a negative impact."

Russia had been calling for the resumption of the operation of the pipeline, which has been suspended since February 2022, in the context of negotiations with the United Nations regarding the extension of the agreement, which allowed the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain.

For its part, Kiev rejected Moscow's accusations, and said: Russian forces are responsible for the incident that occurred in northeastern Ukraine.

Kakhovka Dam disaster

The day after the explosion of the Kakhovka Dam, extensive damage to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station, to the surface structures and to the valves of the dam was exposed.

This led to great damage to the infrastructure in the city of Novaya Kakhovka, to power outages, to a rise in the river water level to 10 meters, and to flooding a number of villages, while the high water level led to floods and flooding of parts of the city, which caused a number of disasters. Environmental, economic and human that will have to be dealt with during the coming period.

Fears of spreading diseases

One of the graves was swept away, threatening infection. The head of the Novaya Kakhovka region, Vladimir Leontyev, stated that the results of the bacteria analysis will not appear before 24 hours, and the water of all artesian wells is being analyzed. Until now, the chemical analysis of the city's water is still in compliance with the permissible standards.

The floods also included a cemetery for livestock and a thermal pit in which dead animals are purified, which threatens the spread of epidemics in the region. Leontiev said on Wednesday that at least seven people were missing after nearby areas were flooded.

Novaya Kakhovka announced the death of thousands of animals in the city's main zoo, after the park was flooded.

And the Ukrainian Ministry of Health warned against catching and consuming fish in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which threatens the population with poisoning.

80 districts were affected

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, during his visit to the city of Kherson on the Dnieper River, warned that more than 80 residential areas were affected by the disaster. "The water disturbs the mines that were planted earlier and causes them to explode," he told reporters. He added that as a result of the floods, infectious diseases and chemicals spread into the water.

He noted that Ukraine has allocated 120 million hryvnia ($3.25 million) to secure water supplies in Mykolaiv in the south of the country, and 1.5 billion hryvnia has been allocated to rebuild water supply systems destroyed by the flood. He said that the Ukrainian authorities evacuated the residents of 24 flooded areas, and that the waters also flooded at least 20 residential areas in the territories occupied by Russian forces.