Heroes of the home front: Mykolaivvodokanal employees tried to restore water supply at the cost of their lives

The Russian Federation has invented a new type of weapon, having no success on the battlefield — to leave half a million cities without water, so that it simply ceases to exist — director of Mykolaivvodokanal Borys Dudenko.

On April 12, 2022, Russian troops blew up the water main that carried Dnipro water to Mykolaiv. It was not possible to repair it due to active hostilities and the occupation of parts of Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. For the first month after the explosion, the townspeople lived without tap water. Water was extracted as best they could: it was collected from wells, taken from volunteers and saved a lot.

NikVesti continues a series of reports about people who, being in Mykolaiv every day, under constant shelling, worked and tried to return the city to normal life.

In the second issue of Heroes of the Home Front, we will tell about the workers of Mykolaivvodokanal utility company, who, despite the danger of mines and shelling, went to the place of the detonation of the water main, in the hope of returning the water to the people of Mykolaiv.

The director of Mykolaivvodokanal Borys Dudenko believes that the Russians deliberately blew up the water supply. Having no success at the front, they tried to do at least something to leave their mark in Mykolaiv.

— After the deoccupation of Kherson, we were able to leave and inspect the water supply. It was blown up in four places. It was done on purpose, it was not a random hit or a fight, it was all done on purpose. Even in one of the cells, where the shut-off valve is installed, we found a box of TNT that did not explode, — he says.

As you know, Mykolaiv became the first city in the world where salt water was forced into the water supply system. Almost a month after the tragedy, on May 6, water supply workers managed to restore water supply. Then a decision was made to give water from the Buh estuary. Thus, due to salt water, water pipes began to collapse, which caused daily accidents in the network.

— Salt water, which was introduced into the network, found the weak points in our already worn-out system, and the massive destruction of the pipeline and pumping equipment began. If before the war we recorded 2-3 accidents on our networks, after the use of salt water it can be 10-15 accidents per day, — says Borys Dudenko.

Oleksandr Hyrcha, an electric and gas boiler maker of Mykolaivvodokanal, said that he met the war practically at his workplace. He was one of those people who were the first to go to the place where the water main was blown up and, risking their lives, tried to restore the water supply. Oleksandr tells how his colleague, the KamAZ driver, nearly lost his life that day after running into a Russian anti-tank mine.

— We knew that the water main was blown up, we saw the pictures. At first they joked about who would go there, I was not in the mood for it. I came to work, and the boss says that I have to go. Well, we went, took what we thought was necessary, but we didn't know what exactly we needed there. It was very scary there, there were simply no villages, — says the man.

He says that the metal pipe, approximately 25 meters long, was turned 120 degrees. In order to return it to its place, it was necessary to use a faucet, brew and put a plug on the pipe, which would close the hole formed in the pipe after the explosion. The same KamAZ driver, who later blew himself up on ammunition, brought the necessary workpiece to the workers.

— We were waiting for a billet to replace the part of the pipe that broke off. KamAZ brought it to us, unloaded it, and on the way back, drove off the road a little. He drove his rear axle into an anti-tank mine, which broke under his weight. At that moment, I was in the pipe and I heard such an explosion that I had a fire that was going during welding, and the air stream pulled it all the way inside the pipe. I got out and saw that the KamAZ was smoking, and the driver who was inside gave a sign that he was alive. This explosion was near the fuel tank, the tires started burning and we were afraid of the next explosion. We had fire extinguishers and shovels. We, regardless of the mining, began to dig the earth, which we also tried to put out the fire. Tolik - the driver was stunned by the explosion, but alive, — Oleksandr recalls that day.

Employees of Mykolaivvodokanal had to work both day and night, not infrequently staying at the workplace for more than a day. Constant arrivals caused new accidents, power outages and complicated the work of utility workers in every way.

— There were moments when drones flew and artillery fired. Then I would take a water pipe jacket, turn it inside out so that neither the stickers nor the colors were visible. And also, there was a very loud noise of vodka when working with gas. So we had cases where we didn't hear the drones because of it. We were approached from above, from drones. We ran away, and then we came back and repaired, — Andrii Antonov, an electrician repairing and maintaining electrical equipment, talks about his everyday life.

Vodokanal employees also believe that the Russian army deliberately deprived Mykolaiv of half a million people of water. They tell about cases when, after the objects were repaired, they were repeatedly attacked.

— I remember that day (April 12, 2022, — note). The feeling that they would be able to do such evil to us never left me. It was immediately clear that the city will be without water for a long time, says KP energy engineer Yevhen Shablevskyi.

In a conversation with NikVesti journalists, the director of Mykolaivvodokanal, Borys Dudenko, sincerely thanked all the company's employees, who, despite fear, remained at their workplaces and continued to do important work for Mykolaiv. According to him, since the beginning of the full-scale war, the utility company managed to keep 95% of its employees.

He assures that today the city and Ukraine are doing everything possible to not only restore the water supply, as it was before, but to do it better. According to Borys Dudenko, Mykolaiv today has 5-6 alternative water intake options.

— I think that by the end of this year we will receive the final results, — the director of the KP expresses hope.

The following worked on the report: Kseniia Stuzhuk, Anton Shatura, Serhii Yefimov

Text: Olena Kozubovska