What will happen to Kyiv if Russia strikes the Bortnychi Aeration Station

Recently, warnings have appeared in the media and social networks about a possible threat from Russian military forces to the Bortnychi Aeration Station (BAS), which provides wastewater treatment for Kyiv and parts of the region's settlements. In the event of its shutdown, the capital could face disruptions to its sewage system, environmental pollution, and increased sanitary and epidemiological risks, experts warn. 

Journalists from UNN investigated whether a possible missile and drone attack on the BAS could escalate into a "sewage collapse" for the capital and an ecological crisis for the entire Kyiv region. 

Attack on Bortnychi Aeration Station: What information appeared on social media

A few days ago, a number of Telegram channels reported that Russia might be planning an attack on the Bortnychi Aeration Station — Kyiv's main sewage treatment facilities, located in the eponymous microdistrict in the south of the capital. 

And a potential strike on it would mean not just local disruptions, but a humanitarian and environmental crisis at the national level.

Capital's Aeration Station: What you need to know about it

The Bortnychi Aeration Station (BAS) is the only urban complex for complete biological treatment of wastewater from Kyiv and part of its agglomeration. Its design capacity is 1.8 million m³/day (3 blocks of 600 thousand each), but the actual inflow in recent years has been lower: 0.6–0.9 million m³/day (on average about 0.75 million).

In addition to Kyiv, the BAS serves a number of settlements and communities, including Vyshhorod, Irpin, Vyshneve, Kotsiubynske, and suburbs to the south and west of the capital.

A short-term power outage lasting several hours reduces treatment efficiency, increases the risk of emergency discharges during peak hours, and can cause unpleasant odors; after power is restored, operations stabilize within 12–48 hours. A prolonged power outage lasting a day or more forces operational restrictions, increases the risk of insufficiently treated wastewater entering the Dnipro, and can lead to water supply restrictions, flooding, and sanitary threats.

Physical damage to the pumping and collection infrastructure or treatment blocks reduces capacity and degrades discharge quality, causing localized overflows. The worst-case scenario is an accident at the sludge fields with a spill of sludge and contaminated water, threatening large-scale and prolonged pollution and possible water supply restrictions.

Why the Bortnychi station is a critically important point for the entire metropolis and why replacing it with temporary solutions like bio-toilets is currently unrealistic, UNN exclusively spoke with Oleg Popenko, head of the Union of Utility Service Consumers. 

Bortnychi Station as a "Point of Failure" for Kyiv 

The expert's key point is this: Kyiv essentially has no alternative scheme for wastewater management. If the station stops working, the city experiences a collapse not locally, but immediately systemically: residential areas, businesses, hospitals, trade, any facilities with sewage will be paralyzed.  

"Practically 80-90% of the city will become uninhabitable. It will be impossible to live in apartment buildings because, in fact, the sewage system in the city will not work. This will lead to an almost complete collapse in the city.

And he explains: critical infrastructure works as long as there is redundancy — duplication of capacities, bypass routes, alternative energy sources. In the case of Bortnychi, there is no backup discharge. Therefore, any critical failure creates a chain reaction that will be the beginning of a communal and environmental collapse.  

Why there is no alternative to Bortnychi and why the issue cannot be resolved quickly 

When asked why there isn't another station of such scale in the city, the expert replies:

"It's difficult to build another aeration station of the same kind in the city. That is, this is not a story about 'installing a module and launching it.'"

And there are two reasons for this. The first is engineering. Such infrastructure is designed for decades, tied to collectors, terrain, wastewater logistics, and land solutions. The second is managerial: redundancy costs money now, but provides benefits delayed in time. Therefore, it often loses out to projects that can yield real-time benefits.  

Damage to the capital's aeration station: the environmental dimension of the incident 

Oleg Popenko admits that the exact consequences of such an attack by the Russian Armed Forces are difficult to predict, but the assessment of the scale is unequivocal: they will be catastrophic.  

Primarily because in such a case, the contents of the sewage pipes either remain in the system, come out, or enter water bodies. And any of these options means pollution that will be long and expensive to eliminate. And the metropolis without treatment will quickly plunge into a sanitary crisis.  

Separately, the expert emphasizes the factor of energy supply. 

Let's not forget that we have huge outages, there are no backup power sources. And we won't even be able to pump sewage

That is, the risk is not only in the strike on the object itself, but also in any situation where the system loses power and control.

Epidemiological risks: from food poisoning to a cholera epidemic 

The most sensitive risks that damage to the BAS would entail lie in the sanitary and epidemiological sphere. The UNN interlocutor refers to doctors and the State Food and Consumer Service for details, but clearly formulates the key conclusion: 

"Any viral diseases... the incidence of them will increase tenfold. These will be all diseases, including those related to the cholera bacillus. We are saying (that, - ed.) there is a very high probability that there will be an epidemic in Kyiv."

Why bio-toilets and cesspools won't save Kyiv residents if the aeration station stops working

After blackouts and winter accidents in Kyiv, ideas for "field solutions" to the problem have already been voiced: bio-toilets, cesspools, mobile complexes. But Oleh Popenko sharply criticizes such initiatives as unviable. 

First of all, cesspools will be of no use. 

Because any cesspool immediately causes an outbreak of disease. No cesspool saves lives

Secondly, mobile sanitary solutions have very low throughput: one point (a so-called "bio-toilet") is designed for use by up to 40-50 people. Given that 3-3.5 million people currently live in the capital permanently and temporarily, such a solution will not save the city from a communal collapse if the BAS stops working. That is, bio-toilets can be a local temporary solution, but they are not capable of fully replacing the city's sewage system.  

The Bortnychi Aeration Station remains a critically important facility for the operation of Kyiv's sewage system and wastewater treatment. In the event of its damage or shutdown, the city could face large-scale disruptions in wastewater disposal, environmental pollution, and increased sanitary and epidemiological risks. This is because it is impossible to quickly replace the station's capacities with alternative solutions, and temporary measures can only have a limited effect.

It should be noted that Kyiv faces unstable electricity supply and risks to heating; critical facilities operate on generators, but residential areas have no guarantees. The city receives assistance from international partners, but problems with infrastructure and preparation for winter remain.