Kryvyi Rih strikes
Part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
The Karachunivske Reservoir at Kryvyi Rih after shelling by Russian forces
Date 24 February 2022 – present Location Kryvyi Rih
Belligerents
Russia	Ukraine
Units involved
Russian Armed Forces	Armed Forces of Ukraine Territorial Defense Forces

Russian occupiers carried out a series of artillery fire and air raids in the city of Kryvyi Rih during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

2022 attacks

February

On February 24, 2022, military warehouses of the 17th tank brigade in Kryvyi Rih near the Makulan microdistrict were fired upon. ^{[1] [2]}

April

On April 7, there were three shellings on the territory of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The occupiers struck the Synelnykove and Kryvyi Rih districts; four people were killed, seven were injured, and two citizens went missing. A rocket also hit a private residential sector in Kryvyi Rih. ^[3]

On April 18, Russians attacked the Kryvyi Rih District. ^[4]

July

On July 25, at 2 a.m., the Metallurgical District of Kryvyi Rih was shelled with cluster munitions from the Russian Tornado-S MLRS. It is stated that there were no victims.

September

On September 3, the settlement community of Shyroke came under fire in the Kryvyi Rih District.

On September 8, Russian troops tried to launch a missile attack on Kryvyi Rih, but was later blocked by the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces. ^[5]

On September 14, at around 17:00, Russia carried out a missile attack on Kryvyi Rih, firing at least 7 Iskander and Kinjal missiles at the city. ^[6] 6 of them struck in the area of the Karachuns Reservoir. ^[7] After the missile attack, the water level in the Inhulets River rose by approximately 1–2 meters, with 112 private cottages flooded. ^{[7] [6]} There were also interruptions in the water supply in several areas of Kryvyi Rih. ^{[8] [9]} About 5,000 residents of the Sofiivka settlement community were left without water supply and 7,000 residents of the Lozuvatka village community. ^{[10] [11]} At midnight on September 15, the head of the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, announced the partial evacuation of two adjacent districts of Kryvyi Rih due to the rise of the water level in the Inhulets River to a historical maximum. ^{[12] [13]} Emergency services had to carry out two controlled bursts on the dam downstream to increase the carrying capacity of the Inhulets River and lower the water level. ^[7] By September 16, the water in the Inhulets turned red. Media speculated that this was the result of a change in the course of the river and its flow on clay soils. ^[14] The sluice gates of the dam, which were hit by a missile, were covered with loam and rubble. ^[14] Eventually, water supply was stabilized in Kryvyi Rih. ^[15] The head of the Dnipropetrovsk state administration, Valentin Reznichenko, said that in the afternoon of September 16, the Russians struck another blow at the critical infrastructure, as a result of which hydrotechnical structures suffered serious destruction. ^[16] The Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Ruslan Strelets, said that the destruction of the hydrotechnical protective structure of the Karachuns Reservoir could cause a man-made catastrophe with consequences for the environment and people. ^[17]

On September 26, the Russians fired Kh-59 missiles at Kryvyi Rih International Airport, damaging its infrastructure. ^[18]

2023 attacks

June

During the night of 13 June 2023, around 3:30 a.m., Russia launched Kh-101/X-101 long range missile strikes against an apartment block and warehouses in Kryvyi Rih. ^{[19] [20] [21]} 12 civilians were killed while 38 were wounded. ^[22] The Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affair Ihor Klymenko visited the scene of the explosion that day and showed journalists around, noting that no military targets or barracks can be found around the damaged apartment building. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was born and grew up in Kryvyi Rih, condemned the attack. ^[19] Kryvyi Rih's mayor Oleksandr Vilkul also denied any military value in the damaged apartment building. ^[23]

2024 attacks

March

On 12 March 2024, Russian missiles hit two residential buildings, one five storeys, the other nine storeys. Three civilians were killed and ten further injured. Several people were trapped under the rubble, but were saved by rescue workers. ^{[24] [25]}

Reactions

As a result of the shelling of the Karachunivske Reservoir, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated that Russia attempted to flood Kryvyi Rih:

The terrorist country continues to fight against the civilian population. This time —missile strikes on hydraulic structures and an attempt to flood Kryvyi Rih. All the occupiers can do is to sow panic, create an emergency, try to leave people without light, heat, water and food.

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy, ^[26]

The head of the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, also addressed the Russians' attempt to flood Kryvyi Rih:

Dear residents of Kryvyi Rih, today the Russians committed another terrorist act. It hit a very large hydrotechnical structure in Kryvyi Rih with eight cruise missiles. The effort  is to simply wash off a part of our city with water.

— Oleksandr Vilkul, ^[27]

The Institute for the Study of War said that Russia launched a missile attack on the dam to deter a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in southern Ukraine, preventing future operations by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Inhulets. ^[28]

See also

• Russian war crimes
• Odesa strikes (2022–present)
• Lviv strikes (2022–present)

References