Days after a Ukrainian strike on a Russian dam designed to impede Russian logistics, videos and photographs are emerging showing flooded dugouts and vehicles stuck in the mud in the northern Kharkiv region. Ukrainian military officials and a local Russian media outlet claim the attack on the Belgorod Reservoir Dam on the Siverskyi Donets River is working as intended, helping to slow down Russian advances near the embattled town of Vovchansk.
You can see a satellite view of the results of the attack in the following video.
“Enemy logistics are becoming significantly more complicated,” the Ukrainian 16th Army Corps stated on Telegram in reference to the results of water streaming out of the dam. “The leaves have also fallen. So the units that managed to cross the Siverskyi Donets found themselves practically cut off from the main forces.”
“We are waiting for reinforcements for the exchange fund,” the corps added, using a reference to prisoners of war.
A Russian outlet offered a similar take.
“Light military equipment sunk in mud on one of the roads in the Vovchansk direction,” the local Belgorod Pepel Telegram channel posited. “Water from the Belgorod reservoir has reached the positions of the Russian army and washed out the roads, greatly complicating logistics and the combat capability of the Russian Armed Forces in the Vovchansk direction.”
“Our dugout was flooded after the dam was blown up,” a Russian soldier is heard to complain on one of the videos.
Ukraine’s Commander of Unmanned Systems Forces, Col. Robert Brovdi, said the dam was hit by drones on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the regional governor said it was attacked on Friday as well.
“As a result of the strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there is damage to the dam of the Belgorod reservoir,” Vyacheslav Gladkov stated on Telegram on Saturday. “We understand that the enemy may try to strike again and destroy the dam. If this happens, there will be a threat of flooding of the river floodplain from the Kharkiv region side and several streets of our settlements, where about 1,000 residents live.”
Though the dam is located a little more than eight miles north of the border, the flood waters that resulted from the attack have swollen the Siverskyi Donets River, which bisects Vovchansk, located about four miles south of the border.
The bombed-out town has become a focal point of the fighting in northern Ukraine. It was liberated in September 2022 but a Russian counteroffensive managed to recapture a portion of the town in May 2024.
Both the Ukrainian and Russian defense ministries say the fighting remains fierce in the area, with Moscow claiming to have inflicted severe damage during these battles.
Before the dam attack, the Russians had made gains in the area thanks to the summer’s heat, according to the Ukrainian 16th Army Corps.
“The enemy tried to fully take advantage of the window of opportunity – after the lack of precipitation and the hellish summer, the rivers Siverskyi Donets and Vovcha have dried up, which simplified logistics for the opponent,” the corps stated on Telegram. “Plus, they managed to accumulate reserves and there are still enough leaves on the trees – all this combined led to a sharp increase in activity in the Vovchansk direction.”
The Russians “managed to achieve local successes, but it came at the cost of heavy losses,” the corps claimed. “Some units almost completely lost combat readiness, for example, the 1st battalion of the 82nd Marine Regiment was almost wiped out, with only the command left in the unit, so it had to be withdrawn to the rear for replenishment.”
“As of today, the situation is no longer in favor of the Russians,” the 16th Corps suggested.
Still, Ukrainian forces are not yet able to take full advantage of any logistical impediments imposed on Russian forces by the dam bust, stated one noted Ukrainian journalist.
“Comrades located at various sections of the Vovchansk direction responded, saying that assault actions and drone operations have not decreased over these 2 days,” Sergey Bratchuk wrote on Telegram. “This is despite the weather conditions, which noticeably complicate the work of UAV crews.”
“Due to (so far) constant tension, they do not allow the so-called ‘window of opportunity’ to be used for improving their own logistics, personnel shifts at positions, and strengthening defensive lines,” he added.
The lack of Ukrainian progress may change as water continues to flow from the dam, Bratchuk suggested.
“Well, let’s see how they behave in a few days when all the main access routes are flooded, the crossings are flooded, and the fortifications are destroyed,” he explained. “Without provisions, ammo, fuel, generators, etc. – offensive capabilities will somewhat quiet down. Infantry are not demanding people; you can even drop them a package and they will hold out for a long time, but supplying pilot positions is a completely different matter.”
The Belgorod attack is the most recent, but certainly not the largest strike on a dam. In March 2023, Ukraine claimed that the Russians intentionally blew up the Nova Kakovka dam on the Dnipro River, intending to impede Ukrainian logistics. While the extent of that objective is unclear, the attack caused major flooding and created a massive ecological disaster in the region.
Just how much the attack on the Belgorod Reservoir dam will hurt Russia remains to be seen. However, the strike is the latest example of how both sides are using water to try and stop the other.
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