The largest Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) are reliably protected from attacks from outside, and the scenario of destruction by Russian troops of the Kyiv and Kaniv hydroelectric power plants is highly unlikely, Ihor Syrota, General Director of PrJSC Ukrhydroenergo, said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine on Tuesday.

"It is virtually impossible to destroy from the outside the largest Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants. Only if several air bombs are dropped on them - for this, the Russians must fly into the territory of Ukraine. The Kyiv and Kaniv hydroelectric power plants are located in the center of Ukraine, far from the front line, so enemy aircraft are unlikely to be able to get closer. This is a highly unlikely scenario," he said.

As the CEO explained, the Russians were able to blow up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant from the inside because it was occupied by them, and they brought hundreds of kilograms of explosives there.

At the same time, Ukrhydroenergo has different response models in case an external enemy attack on hydroelectric power plants does take place.

"We have different modeling of the situation in order to prevent large flooding: how to trigger the entire reservoir, how to let water through. With such preparation, in the worst case, basements in some areas of Kyiv adjacent to Dnipro could be flooded. But at the same time, of course, the ability to generate electricity and supply fresh water will disappear for a while," he noted.

As Syrota emphasized, even if the Russians had destroyed the Kyiv dams, the consequences would not have been of the same nature as they were in Kherson region after the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant, because the Kyiv and Kaniv reservoirs are almost six times smaller than the Kakhovka one.

"If last year we had controlled entire Kherson region and Nova Kakhovka, the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant would have been less. We would have had about five hours to evacuate people. However, no one could have stopped the environmental damage - we consider this an environmental disaster second in level after Chornobyl," the CEO added.

According to him, in the event of significant damage from missiles, the reservoir may be triggered - people in nearby settlements will be left without water, but catastrophic consequences, as in Kherson region, will not arise.

As he recalled, from the beginning of a full-scale war until mid-July 2024, the Russian occupiers launched more than 120 missile attacks on Ukrainian hydroelectric power plants.