The Cabinet of Ministers has allocated nearly 50 million hryvnias to protect Izmail from flooding
The government has allocated 49.4 million hryvnias for urgent emergency repair work on the protective levee along the Danube River in the Izmail District of Odesa Oblast. The funding is intended to help prevent flooding in the region’s settlements.
The funds will be transferred from the state budget’s reserve fund on a non-repayable basis to the Odesa Regional Military Administration.
“The condition of the protective dam requires an immediate response,” said Vitaliy Kindrativ, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine. “The allocated funding will allow us to promptly begin emergency repair work and prevent a man-made emergency. This is primarily about the safety of Izmail’s residents and the protection of areas located near the Danube.”
According to the official, carrying out this work will strengthen the area’s protection against potential emergencies and ensure adequate living conditions for the population of the Odesa region.
Rodion Abashev, head of the Izmail District State Administration, had previously described the scale of the problem. According to him, the destruction of the riverbank section of the protective embankment at the 97th kilometer of the Danube was first recorded back in September 2021. At that time, special reinforcements were installed at the affected section to prevent erosion, but the river’s current gradually eroded the protective coverings. By 2025, erosion had reached about 5 meters, and by March 2026, it had reached nearly 8 meters.
The main danger is the potential flooding of artesian wells, which provide drinking water to nearly 100,000 residents of Izmail and the surrounding villages. If the dam breaks, these water sources could be rendered inoperable. Izmail itself is one of Ukraine’s major river ports, through which a significant portion of Ukrainian grain shipments now passes following the loss of part of the country’s maritime export capacity. The enemy has repeatedly struck the city’s port infrastructure in an attempt to paralyze its operations.
Source: Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine.
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