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After the collapse of the Kachowka dam, the next humanitarian catastrophe looms? According to reports from the Ukrainian secret service, Russian sappers prepared a huge chemical plant in Crimea with explosives and mines. An explosion could have worse consequences than the Chernobyl disaster, says an expert.

The factory “Крымский ТИТАН” (Crimean Titan) is located on the northernmost tip of the annexed Crimean peninsula, a few kilometers from the border with the Ukrainian Oblast of Kherson. About five kilometers to the south is the quiet town of Armyansk with over 25,000 inhabitants (as of 2014).

The factory specializes in the production of titanium dioxide and was the world’s largest producer of this food additive, which is mainly used as a coloring agent, before Russia invaded in 2014. Since the rupture of the Kakhovka dam, the plant has been running at minimum capacity because the water supply from the Dnieper has collapsed. So why would Russia have an interest in blowing up this factory?

The Ukrainian secret service “GUR” announced via Telegram on Monday that the factory had about 200 tons of ammonia in stock. The liquefied gas is stored under pressure and is required for cooling. In the event of an explosion, the corrosive ammonia would be released into the air as a cloud, mix with the air and thus react very explosively to ignition sources.

In addition, production at the plant also produces toxic sulfuric acid and sodium silicate, the dust of which can burn the respiratory tract. If this toxic mix of chemicals were released into the air and soil, it would have devastating and long-lasting effects on people and the environment, an expert confirms to Watson.

The information provided by the GUR could not be independently verified.

The Ukrainian web magazine “Focus” has used a computer simulation to show what dimensions this catastrophe could have. The evaluation does not show anything good: the resulting toxic cloud would be more than 50 kilometers wide, would move about 200 kilometers per day and could reach Russia, Bulgaria or Turkey, depending on the wind situation.

Oleksandr Prokudin, head of Kherson’s regional defense leadership, announced via Telegram in early June that a chemical accident of this magnitude would be “worse than Chernobyl.”

An incident had already occurred in 2018 when toxic sulfur dioxide escaped from the plant’s water tank. At that time, 4,000 children from Armyansk were evacuated and several dozen people had to seek medical attention. Russia claimed that by closing the supply channel, Ukraine caused a water shortage in the reservoir and caused the gas to leak.

But not only the civilian population would be in trouble in the event of an explosion: the Ukrainian army would be severely handicapped in such an event. Ukrainian military analyst Roman Svatovin described in an interview with the TV channel “Apostrophe”:

In fact, a military advance through a chemically contaminated area is extremely difficult. Troops should be dressed in full NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) gear at all times. Anyone who has ever completed an RS knows how tedious and tiring it is to move around in such suits, especially over extended periods.

It remains to be seen whether the Russian troops actually prepared the work. After the collapse of the Kakhovka dam, the cause of which is unknown but attributed by various parties to Russia, Ukraine is on alert. It is to be hoped that the chemistry remains in their tanks.

(cpf)