Important Ukrainian army supply route hit by Russians. Kiev says it was prepared for the possibility of “critical damage”

A Russian missile hit the dam of the Pecheneg reservoir, in the Kharkiv region (northeast), which led to the suspension of road traffic over this infrastructure node, the Ukrainian authorities announced on Sunday. The dam is an important supply route for the Ukrainian troops, EFE and DPA agencies write.

“Fortunately, there were no casualties, although traffic on the dam was very heavy (at the time). Experts are examining the extent of the damage,” Peceneghi mayor Oleksandr Gusarov told Suspilne public television.

The route over the Pecheneghi dam leading to the front-line sectors of Vovceansk, Veliki Burluk and Kupiansk, where Ukrainian forces are under severe pressure, has been closed, Gusarov said.

According to experts, the road that crosses the dam is a crucial supply route for the defense of the city of Vovceansk, besieged by Russian forces for a year and a half and whose capture was announced by Moscow on December 1, although Kiev has not yet officially declared it lost, notes Agerpres.

A bridge over the water reservoir near the village of Starii Saltiv was also destroyed, according to other information broadcast on Ukrainian Telegram channels.

However, the Ukrainian military tried to dispel concerns about the consequences of closing the route over the Pecheneghi dam.

The closure of that route will not have a substantial impact on the front, the 16th Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine assured in a statement, in which it pointed out that the infrastructure had long been the target of systematic attacks by Russia with bombs, drones and missiles.

“The Ukrainian side has long been aware of the potential risks and is prepared for the eventuality of the dam suffering critical damage. Mitigation plans have been prepared in advance,” the Ukrainian military said in a statement.

There are alternative routes, and frontline troops have sufficient supplies of weapons and ammunition, the military statement added.

Ukrainian authorities are working to repair the road, according to the text, which points out that attacks on reservoirs, dams or nuclear power plants are prohibited under international law because of the potential catastrophic consequences.

Numerous bridges and dams in the region were destroyed in the first months of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.

In 2023, Russian forces blew up the Kahovka Dam on the lower reaches of the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine, causing a devastating flood that claimed many lives and caused severe damage.