Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv's Bortnychi aeration station on the night of Aug. 5, hitting Ukraine's primary wastewater treatment facility.
The overnight attack marks the latest in a series of strikes targeting the critical site over the past year. Having previously struck power grids, gas production, and water utilities, Russian forces have shifted targets to municipal sanitation infrastructure. The report states the strategy aims to displace urban populations and create a humanitarian crisis in the Ukrainian rear.
The Bortnychi station serves as the sole sewage treatment facility for Kyiv and numerous surrounding communities. It processes wastewater for Vyshhorod, Irpin, Vyshneve, Hnizdyn, Shchaslyve, Chabany, Kotsiubynske, Sofiyivska Borschahivka, Petropavlivska Borschahivka, and Hatne. No backup treatment system exists because no secondary facility was built following Ukrainian independence.
Threats to city infrastructure and river water
While reinforced concrete aeration tanks and settling basins can withstand heavy physical damage, the facility remains vulnerable to power disruptions. Recent attacks have targeted electrical power supplies, distribution switchgear, pumping stations, and control systems. The station relies on continuous pumping and aeration to sustain active sludge for biological treatment, and losing power for a few days can destroy the biological purification process, requiring weeks to restore.
A complete shutdown of the station would cause wastewater to back up into city collectors, basements, and ground floors across Kyiv. Furthermore, untreated sewage would flow directly into the Dnieper River. This river serves as the main drinking water source for major downstream cities, including Cherkasy, Kremenchuk, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
Health risks and defense requirements
Discharging raw sewage into the river creates severe epidemiological risks, including potential outbreaks of Hepatitis A, dysentery, and other intestinal infections. With municipal medical services already operating under strain and many residents staying in shelters, a major failure at the plant could trigger a broad humanitarian emergency. Decades of accumulated sediment in nearby silt fields also pose an environmental hazard if directly hit.
Replacing the facility quickly is impossible because wastewater infrastructure requires decades to design and adapt to local terrain. The report notes that protective measures must include physical shelters for electrical gear, backup power generation with fuel reserves, decentralized spare parts, and priority air defense coverage. Long term defense requires targeting ballistic missile launch sites, production facilities, and supply lines inside Russia.
