Amid the spoiled farmland and destroyed crops, the waterlogged homes and ruined lives, the now slow-motion tragedy that is the draining of the Kakhovka reservoir is also peeling back time on an almost forgotten aspect of Ukrainian history.
The receding water has revealed the remains of an ancient settlement that people living nearby on the edge of the artificial lake refer to as the "Cossack Meadow."
The discovery sets up a conundrum for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government. It has staked much of its political brand and the county's existence on preserving and strengthening Ukrainian culture and identity, including its history, which he has accused Russia of trying to erase with Moscow's campaign of bombing libraries and cultural centres.The desire to preserve the sites will have to be balanced against the urgent social and economic need to eventually rebuild the dam.
Andriy Seletskiy, the mayor of Novovorontsovka, considers the draining of the reservoir a milestone event and an opportunity the government should consider due to its historical significance. The "meadow" — with its mix of undulating hills, grassland and forests — had been a safe haven for Cossacks for centuries before it was flooded.Semi-nomadic and semi-militarized, the Cossacks have a long, rich — some would argue romanticized — place in history as a multi-ethnic, democratic people who were given a great deal of autonomy under Polish, Lithuanian and Russian rulers. They were hired as irregular troops and developed a fierce reputation.
Local residents take boats along a flooded street in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 8 as they evacuate from a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka dam was destroyed two days earlier. "I understand that economics [is] higher than historical memory," he said. "It's sad, but I understand this."Those affected most by the loss of the dam have little time for historical memories.
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