SUMMARY:

Soviet Ukraine, as any other Soviet republic, was part of the process of the industrial and agricultural transformation of nature. The Dnipro River became an object of this transformation and, in the course of fifty years, it was turned into a cascade of reservoirs. One of these, the Kakhovka Reservoir, emerged as a result of flooding of the wetlands that for several centuries had been a symbol of the local population’s wealth and independence. They were also an important site of memory for Ukrainians and an important component of their national identity. Using archival material and oral interviews, the article discusses the conflict between government planners, scientists, and representatives of local communities regarding the significance and fate of the lower Dnipro wetlands.