Flood in Dagestan and the Gedzhukh reservoir breach
Makhachkala, Khasavyurt and Derbent districts and other parts of Dagestan · 28 Mar 2026
Heavy rain on 28 March and 5 April 2026 flooded parts of Dagestan; on 5 April the earth embankment of the Gedzhukh reservoir near Mamedkala breached. According to the Head of Dagestan, six people died, three of them children. On 9 April the situation was classed as an emergency of federal character.
Official figures
- Dead: 6 (as of 7 Apr 2026) archive copy
- Of them children: 3 (as of 7 Apr 2026) archive copy
First version and outcome
First wave: rain of 27–29 March. First three days: 28 Mar 2026 to 31 Mar 2026
- 28 Mar 2026, 13:24 Moscow time · Cause · Makhachkala city administration; the Emergencies Ministry's Dagestan directorate: “On Zarechnaya Street, rainwater built up and rose because the drainage ditch was clogged with debris.” archive copy
- 28 Mar 2026, 15:54 Moscow time · Cause · Sergei Melikov, Head of the Republic of Dagestan: “But the blow of the elements proved stronger than the most pessimistic forecasts.” archive copy
- 28 Mar 2026, 18:44 Moscow time · Cause · Makhachkala city administration: “The storm-drain system could not take the critical load, although utilities had prepared and cleaned it in advance, the administration said.” archive copy
- 28 Mar 2026, 19:55 Moscow time · Cause · Sergei Melikov, Head of the Republic of Dagestan: “Again the same problem that has been getting worse here for years: illegal building, including in protected zones” archive copy
- 31 Mar 2026, 17:03 Moscow time · Cause · Igor Shumakov, head of Roshydromet, the federal weather service: “We issued storm warnings for Dagestan, Chechnya and North Ossetia, 48 to 60 hours in advance” archive copy
Second wave: rain of 4–5 April and the reservoir breach. First three days: 5 Apr 2026 to 8 Apr 2026
- 5 Apr 2026, 21:37 Moscow time · Cause · Ministry of Emergencies: “Heavy rainfall overfilled the reservoir, and as a result the earth embankment breached.” archive copy
- 6 Apr 2026, 00:32 Moscow time · Toll · Head of Dagestan's Regional Management Centre: “Unfortunately, there are two deaths” archive copy
- 6 Apr 2026, 13:12 Moscow time · Responsibility · Sergei Melikov, Head of the Republic of Dagestan: “We need to find out who permitted the building of these houses and who permitted blocks of flats built on plots meant for individual houses to be put into use.” archive copy
- 7 Apr 2026, 16:45 Moscow time · Toll · Alexander Kurenkov, Minister of Emergencies: “Units of the Emergencies Ministry rescued more than 200 people. Unfortunately, six people died.” archive copy
- 7 Apr 2026, 16:45 Moscow time · Cause · Alexander Kurenkov, Minister of Emergencies: “Unlike the typical pattern, when cyclones form over the Black Sea and cross the Caucasus range, this cyclone formed over the Caspian Sea, where it took up a large amount of moisture.” archive copy
- 7 Apr 2026, 16:45 Moscow time · Cause · Vladimir Putin, President of Russia: “Because of abnormal weather, on 5 April the earth embankment of the Gedzhukh reservoir in Derbent district breached.” archive copy
- 7 Apr 2026, 16:45 Moscow time · Cause · Sergei Melikov, Head of the Republic of Dagestan: “Blocks of flats and individual houses were built on illegally allocated plots in breach of all planning rules. Such building narrowed riverbeds and drainage channels, which was largely why they could not carry large volumes of rainwater.” archive copy
Later: investigation, courts, official findings
- 10 Apr 2026, 17:39 Moscow time · Responsibility · Volga Interregional Environmental Prosecutor's Office: “It was established that the owner and the organisations using the Gedzhukh reservoir on the Darvagchai river did not ensure the safe operation of the dam, which led to its breach, an uncontrolled release of water and the flooding of the surrounding area, including settlements” archive copy
- 10 Apr 2026, 22:47 Moscow time · Responsibility · Investigative Committee of Russia: “According to investigators, officials of the organisation running the dams in Derbent district did not keep the structure in proper technical condition and did not remedy the violations found.” archive copy
- 12 Apr 2026, 13:02 Moscow time · Responsibility · Sovetsky District Court of Makhachkala: “According to the material submitted to the court, the tenant and operator of the dam, despite the unsatisfactory state of the structures recorded in the safety declaration and numerous violations, did not fix the defects for a long time and gave the supervisory body false information about the structure's condition, the court said.” archive copy
- 12 Apr 2026, 17:27 Moscow time · Responsibility · Investigative Committee of Russia: “According to investigators, the suspect did not ensure that safety requirements were met, did not organise proper monitoring of the structure's condition and took no steps to remedy the violations found.” archive copy
- 14 Apr 2026, 21:55 Moscow time · Cause · Sergei Melikov, Head of the Republic of Dagestan: “This situation is indeed extraordinary: the volume of rain that put the Gedzhukh dam at risk is above all a natural phenomenon.” archive copy
Timeline: key decisions
- 28 Mar 2026 · Makhachkala city administration; the Emergencies Ministry's Dagestan directorate: Makhachkala's authorities declared a city emergency. The Emergencies Ministry said Zarechnaya Street flooded because a drainage ditch was clogged with debris. archive copy
- 29 Mar 2026 · Khasavyurt district administration: Khasavyurt district declared an emergency from 21:00 on 28 March. archive copy
- 30 Mar 2026 · Sergei Melikov, Head of the Republic of Dagestan: By Decree No. 52 Melikov classed the emergency as regional and declared it in three districts and five cities from 30 March. archive copy
- 7 Apr 2026 · Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Russia: By Order No. 768-r Mishustin set up a Government commission headed by Kurenkov. archive copy
- 9 Apr 2026 · Government commission for emergencies (chaired by Alexander Kurenkov): The Government commission classed the situation in Dagestan and Chechnya as an emergency of federal character. archive copy
- 10 Apr 2026 · Judicial Qualification Board of Dagestan: The board ended, at her own request, the powers of judge Patimat Makhatilova. According to the courts' press service, in 2013 she legalised the building on Aivazovsky Street that partly collapsed in April. archive copy
- 6 May 2026 · Fyodor Shchukin, acting Head of the Republic of Dagestan: Fyodor Shchukin, appointed acting Head of Dagestan by presidential decree on 4 May, was introduced to the republic's authorities. He called support for every victim the main current task. archive copy
Money
- 14 Apr 2026 · ₽1,567,500 to family members for each person killed · Melikov listed the payments under the federal rules; families of the dead receive 1,567,500 roubles for each person killed.
- 30 Apr 2026 · ₽423,381,075 · The Emergencies Ministry said 9,878 people in Dagestan had been paid 423.4 million roubles.
- 3 Jun 2026 · ₽3bn · Orders No. 1351-r and 1352-r allocated almost 3 billion roubles to repair and replace damaged kindergartens, schools and colleges in Dagestan and Chechnya.
- 25 Jun 2026 · ₽2.5bn · Order No. 1609-r directed almost 2.5 billion roubles to repairing dams, clearing riverbeds and temporary embankments in Dagestan and Chechnya.
- 28 Jun 2026 · ₽385m · Over 385 million roubles went to Dagestan and Chechnya to reimburse their payments to victims.
- 11 Jul 2026 · ₽3.8bn · Order No. 1791-r gave Dagestan more than 3.8 billion roubles for payments to people whose homes were damaged or lost.
- 31 Jul 2026 · ₽1bn · Over 1 billion roubles went to Dagestan and Chechnya for payments to victims.
- 19 Aug 2026 · ₽0.5bn · About 0.5 billion roubles went to Dagestan to reimburse payments; in all, the Government says more than 12 billion roubles have been allocated to the two republics.
Promises after the emergency
- Houses for flood victims in Mamedkala "fast" · Cannot be checked
- About 3 billion roubles of donations for people with unregistered homes · Promised
- Help flood victims even if their homes are not registered · Cannot be checked
- Flood-damaged schools in Dagestan and Chechnya ready for the school year · Delivering