The Dnieper, also called Dnepr or Dnipro, is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately 2,200 km (1,400 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 sq mi), it is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe, after the Volga, Danube, and Ural rivers.
Kremenchuk is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion within Poltava Oblast. Kremenchuk also hosts the administration of Kremenchuk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is approximately 215,271, ranking 31st in Ukraine. In 2001, the Ukrainian government included the city in the list of historical settlements.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in southeastern Ukraine is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world. It has been under Russian control since 2022. It was built by the Soviet Union near the city of Enerhodar, on the southern shore of the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper river. It is operated by Energoatom, who operate Ukraine's other three nuclear power stations.
The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station, also known as the Dnipro Dam, is a hydroelectric power station in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Operated by Ukrhydroenergo, it is the fifth and largest station in the Dnieper reservoir cascade, a series of hydroelectric stations on the Dnieper river that supply power to the Donets–Kryvyi Rih industrial region. Its dam has a length of 800 metres (2,600 ft), a height of 61 metres (200 ft), and a flow rate of 38.7 metres (127 ft) per second.
The Kremenchuk Reservoir is a reservoir on the Dnieper river in the Ukrainian oblasts of Poltava, Cherkasy, and Kirovohrad. Named after the city of Kremenchuk, the reservoir is primarily used for irrigation, flood control, fishing, and transport from the ports of Cherkasy and Svitlovodsk. It is the largest reservoir on the Dnieper river, with a length of 149 km, a width of 28 km, an area of 2,250 km2, an average depth of six meters, and a volume of 13.5 km3.
The Kyiv Reservoir, locally the Kyiv Sea, is a large water reservoir located on the Dnieper River in Ukraine. Named after the city of Kyiv, which lies to the south, it covers an area of 922 square kilometres (356 sq mi) within the Kyiv Oblast. The reservoir filled in 1964–1966 after the dam for the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant was built at Vyshhorod. The reservoir is mainly used for hydroelectricity generation, industrial and public consumption, and irrigation.
The Kakhovka Reservoir was a water reservoir on the Dnieper River in Ukraine. It was created in 1956 by construction of the Kakhovka Dam at Nova Kakhovka. It was one of several reservoirs in the Dnieper reservoir cascade.
The Dnieper reservoir cascade or Dnieper cascade of hydroelectric power stations is a series of dams, reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations on the Dnieper river in Ukraine. It was created to prevent uncontrolled flooding and improve water transportation infrastructure. Coordination and operation of all dams on the Dnieper is conducted by government company Ukrhydroenergo. In 1970, the Kyiv dam partially prevented flooding in comparison with the 1931 Kyiv flooding.
The Kamianske Reservoir is a reservoir located on the lower part of the Dnieper river in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of Ukraine. Named after the name of the city of Kamianske, the reservoir is mainly used for generating hydroelectric power, transportation, fish farming, and human consumption. Its water level is maintained by the dam of the Middle Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Plant, constructed from 1963 to 1965.
The Kaniv Reservoir is a reservoir located on the Dnieper river in the Ukrainian oblasts of Cherkasy and Kyiv. Named after the city of Kaniv, the reservoir has a length of 162 km, a maximum width of 5 km, an area of 675 km2, an average depth of 5.5 meters, and a volume of 2.6 km3. Its water level is maintained by a dam of the Kaniv Hydroelectric Power Plant, built in 1972.
Dnister HES-1 is a 702 MW (6х117 MW) hydroelectric power station at the Dnister near Novodnistrovsk, Ukraine. It was launched in commercial operation 1983. Both Dnister Hydroelectric Station and Dnister Pumped Storage Power Station are administered by the Ukrainian Hydro-Energy Administration and compose the Dnister Cascade of power stations. Dnister HES-2 is located downstream and has a 27 MW capacity.
Kaniv Hydroelectric Power Plant is a hydroelectricity generating complex on the Dnieper river in Kaniv, Ukraine. It is operated by Ukrhydroenego, a subsidiary of the state-owned Energy Company of Ukraine. The dam has a 288 by 18 metres single-stage, single chamber lock to enable travel along the Dnieper river.
Kyiv Hydroelectric Station is a run-of-river power plant on the Dnieper River in Vyshhorod, Kyiv Oblast, Central Ukraine. The 288 m (945 ft) long dam creates the Kyiv Reservoir with the purpose of hydroelectric power generation and navigability with the dam's associated lock. The first of 20 generators in the power station was commissioned in 1964, and the last in 1968. Together with the Kyiv Pumped Storage Power Station, it creates a hydroelectricity generating complex. It is operated by the Ukrhydroenergo. Turbines for the plant were produced by the Kharkiv Factory Turboatom, and generators by the Kharkiv Factory "Elektrovazhmash".
The Kyiv Pumped-Storage Power Plant is a pumped-storage power station on the west bank of the Kyiv Reservoir in Vyshhorod, Ukraine. The Kyiv Reservoir serves as the lower reservoir and the upper reservoir is located 70 m (230 ft) above the lower. Water sent from the upper reservoir generates electricity with three 33.3 megawatts (44,700 hp) conventional hydroelectric generators and three 45 megawatts (60,000 hp) reversible pump generators. During periods of low demand, such as nighttime, the pump generators push water from the lower reservoir to the upper for use during peak hours. The first generator was commissioned in 1970, and the last in 1972.
The Middle Dnieper Hydroelectric Station is a run-of-river power plant on the Dnieper River in Kamianske, Ukraine, operated by Ukrhydroenergo.
The Kakhovka Dam was a dam on the Dnieper River in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, completed in 1956 and destroyed in 2023, which provided water for the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station. The primary purposes of the dam were hydroelectric power generation, irrigation, and navigation. It was the sixth and last dam in the Dnieper reservoir cascade.
During the autumn and winter of 2022–2023, Russia launched waves of missile and drone strikes against energy in Ukraine as part of its invasion. The strikes targeted civilian areas beyond the battlefield, particularly critical power infrastructure, which is considered a war crime. By the end of 2023, Russian forces launched about 7,400 missiles and 3,900 Shahed drone strikes against Ukraine according to Ukrainian military officials.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia and the surrounding region became the target of repeated Russian shelling and bombing as part of the southern Ukraine offensive from 27 February 2022 onwards. Thirty to forty percent of the infrastructure in the city has been destroyed.
The Kakhovka Dam was breached in the early hours of 6 June 2023, causing extensive flooding along the lower Dnieper river, also called the Dnipro, in Kherson Oblast. The dam was under the control of the Russian military, which had seized it in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Many experts have concluded that Russian forces likely blew up a segment of the dam to hinder the planned Ukrainian counter-offensive. Russian authorities have denied the accusation.
In the morning hours of 22 March 2024, Russia carried out one of the largest missile and drone attacks against Ukraine in the series of similar Russian attacks during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War with 88 missiles and 63 drones. Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Khmelnytskyi, Poltava Oblast, Vinnytsia Oblast, Lviv Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, Odesa Oblast, Sumy Oblast and other parts of the country were subjected to rocket fire by the Russian army. The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station was put out of action.
