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Context

• Russia's military recently announced that its soldiers have foiled a Ukrainian attempt to build a bridgehead on the Dnieper River's eastern bank.

About

• It is Europe's fourth-longest river (after the Volga, Danube, and Ural).
• The river's name in Russian is Dnepr.
• It is Dnipro in Ukrainian and Dnyapro in Belarusian.
• The Dnieper River and its tributaries drain much of Belarus and Ukraine in Eastern Europe.
• Historically, the river served as a significant barrier separating Ukraine's right and left banks.
• It originated in Russia, in the low Valday Hills west of Moscow.
• It is 1,368 miles long and flows across western Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine before emptying into the Black Sea.
• The waterway spans around 300 miles in Russia, 430 miles in Belarus, and 680 miles in Ukraine.
• It runs through many cities, including Smolensk and Dorogobuzh in Russia, Mogilev in Belarus, and Kiev, Cherkasy, Dnipro, and Zaporizhia in Ukraine.
• It has 32,000 tributaries, which include the Sozh, Desna, Trubizh, Bilozerka, Drut, Berezina, and Prypiat Rivers.

Canals

There are a number of canals connected to the Dnieper:

• The Dnieper–Donbas Canal;
• The Dnieper–Kryvyi Rih Canal;
• The Kakhovka Canal (southeast of the Kherson region);
• The Krasnoznamianka Irrigation System in the southwest of the Kherson region;
• The North Crimean Canal—will largely solve the water problem of the peninsula, especially in the arid northern and eastern Crimea;

Fauna

• The river is part of the quagga mussel's native range.
• The mussel has been accidentally introduced around the world, where it has become an invasive species.

Delta

• The city of Kherson lies on the northern bank, upstream of the Dnieper Delta, before the Dnieper meets the Southern Bug River in the Dniprovska Gulf.

Ecology

• Nowadays the Dnieper River suffers from anthropogenic influence resulting in numerous emissions of pollutants.
• The Dnieper is close to the Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant's radioactive dumps (near Kamianske) and susceptible to leakage of its radioactive waste.
• The river is also close to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone) which is located next to the mouth of the Pripyat River.

Reservoirs and hydroelectric power

• From the mouth of the Pripyat River to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station, there are six sets of dams and hydroelectric stations, which produce 10% of Ukraine's electricity.
• The Kakhovka dam was destroyed on 6 June 2023 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the subsequent drying up of the Kakhovka Reservoir revealing the original course of the river in the area and disconnecting four canal networks.

PRACTICE QUESTION The Dnieper River, a major watercourse in Eastern Europe, is closely associated with the capital of Ukraine. Which of the following cities is situated on the banks of the Dnieper River? A) Lviv B) Kharkiv C) Kyiv D) Odessa Answer: C