Great Meadow, Ukraine

The area was covered in numerous trees, including aspen, oak, and willow, and was inhabited by hares, foxes, deer, wild pigs, martens, and wolves.

[3] By summer of 2024, the Great Meadow was covered by a continuous young willow forest, and started getting repopulated by land animals.

[4] The Great Meadow was inhabited since ancient times, with some findings dating back to the Bronze Age, the Scythian period, and the Kievan Rus'.

On 12 March 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine banned the transfer of ownership or use of land that emerged from the former reservoir due to plans of restoring the dam.

[10] While hydrologists and power engineers support the reconstruction of the dam, numerous ecologists, historians, and archaeologists resist the idea and propose to make the Great Meadow a protected natural and historic area instead.