Retreating Russian army condemned for dam blast that risks N-plant disaster
From Havana to Hebrides, ex-Minister reveals remarkable inside story of iconic brand’s rescue from the brink
VLADIMIR PUTIN’S retreating army was condemned for its ‘reckless’ attack on a large dam near the liberated Ukrainian city of Kherson last night, amid fears it could damage Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Dramatic footage showed the moment fleeing Russian troops detonated explosives at a bridge that runs along the top of the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam.
Ukrainian experts last night warned that if the dam were destroyed, it would drain the huge Kakhovka reservoir, which supplies cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and the deluge would flood hundreds of thousands of homes. The nuclear plant is still under Russian occupation.
Russia’s retreat means the new front line is across the Dnipro river, and the attack on the dam was a grim reminder of the realities of war as residents of Kherson celebrated their new-found freedoms amid the ruins of the strategically important port city.
The chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, said that the dam, which was built in 1956, had been rigged up with explosives by Russians and the structure’s integrity was ‘inextricably’ linked to the safety of the nuclear power station.
A member of the Kherson regional government, Serhiy Khlan, said that the dam’s destruction threatens the reactor’s coolant system and could lead to catastrophe.
Yuriy Kostenko, a former Ukrainian government minister responsible for his country’s nuclear power, warned that without water from the dam’s reservoir the plant would face disaster. He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘When a tsunami wrecked the reactor cooling system at a large Japanese nuclear power station some years ago, disaster was only averted by bringing in a huge, mobile pumping facility, which used sea water for cooling.
‘I know that the Russians have explosives already in place at the dam. I believe that Nato has such a mobile pumping facility as was used in Japan and it should prepare to transport it here.’
Ukrainian government sources said many of the occupation forces and their families near the dam have been evacuated.
Mr Kostenko said that flooding would also destroy the pipeline that provides water to the mostly barren Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. He said: ‘If the Russians blew the dam they would harm their own people.’
The road over the dam was obliterated in Friday night’s attack. Water appeared to be seeping through yesterday but the dam is in an area still occupied by Russian forces and Ukrainian engineers said they were unable to access it to assess the full scale of the damage yesterday.
Benjamin Strick, a London-based analyst, said satellite images showed damage to ‘sections of the northern extent of the dam and sluice gates deliberately destroyed’. Breaching the dam would release a devastating tidal wave that authorities warned would kill hundreds or thousands and sweep away scores of villages. But intelligence chief Maj-Gen Budanov said it would need ‘tens of tons of properly placed explosives’ to destroy it.
Russian forces also blew up several bridges as they retreated to the east bank of the Dnipro river.
Some reports said desperate Russian soldiers drowned trying to swim across the Dnipro while others fired guns at comrades as they fought over the small boats.
Meanwhile, jubilant residents celebrated their new-found freedom amid the ruins of the strategically important port city. Phone and internet connections were restored, allowing people to phone worried relatives living outside the city for the first time in months.
A man called Andrew speaking to Sky News correspondent Alex Rossi described life under occupation as ‘horrible’, adding: ‘You never knew what to expect from them [the Russians] because one day they give you humanitarian aid and the next day they kill people and they arrest people and these people disappear.’
Ukrainian authorities warned that the Russians had left thousands of booby traps behind. Sappers were going house to house to disable them. Russian soldiers had scrawled ‘from Russia with love’ and ‘from a pure heart’ on two of the devices.
IT may be a long way from the Hebrides to Havana. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, it was a chance meeting over dinner with Fidel Castro that helped secure the future of Harris Tweed. But before explaining the Cuban leader’s role in saving of one of Scotland’s most celebrated brands, it’s important to recognise the part played by the United Kingdom Parliament.
‘Protectionism’ gets a bad name in the politics of trade – while ‘competitiveness’ seems to be revered. Yet I can vouch that a precious island industry would simply not exist if was not for ‘protection’ bestowed by the crucial Harris Tweed Act of 1993.
This Act defines how the cloth must be made to qualify for the famous Orb trade mark: ‘From pure virgin wool, handwoven at the home of the weaver in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.’
Without that legal definition, the product would long since have been stolen from the islands.
Another consequence is that no individual or company can own the brand or the trade mark which are safeguarded by a public body, the Harris Tweed Authority.
That aspect of the Act became critically important in 2007 – and explains how my own direct involvement came about.
Almost all of the industry had belonged to a local mill owner who sold it to a Yorkshire textiles entrepreneur, Brian Haggas. After previous years of decline, the sale was welcomed
This proud industry is as indestructible as the fabric itself
– if it was going to bring in new investment and ideas. Unfortunately, Haggas’s big idea was more like a death warrant than a cure.
The glory of Harris Tweed lies in its depth of colour and diversity of patterns – thousands of them. Haggas’s plan was to reduce this number to four and use the entire production in his own range of men’s jackets.
Harris Tweed’s clients around the world were sent a message: ‘Go elsewhere because, from now on, you won’t be able to buy Harris Tweed.’
It was an astonishing folly with deadly implications for an industry crucial to the Hebridean economy – but the Harris Tweed Act came to its rescue. Whether he understood it or not, Haggas had bought a business but not the brand. And he could not stop another mill selling to the clients he had cut off – if one existed.
At that point, I became involved. It was pointed out that a disused mill at Shawbost, on the west side of Lewis, was capable of being brought back to life. Did I know anyone who might invest in a new business?
As it happened, I did – Ian Taylor. Ian ran the trading company Vitol. I met him in Havana over dinner with Fidel Castro when I was UK Trade Minister. The Cuban leader held forth for about five hours. Having first visited Cuba some 40 years ago, I met him almost a dozen times. He talked a lot – but then he always had a lot to talk about. He was a man with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. And also such a fan of whisky that he sent a team to Scotland to find out how to make it.
Anyway, Ian was a bit of a hero in Cuba since Vitol came to their aid, supplying oil after the Soviet Union collapsed. We became good friends.
His dad was Scottish and he always said if there was anything useful he could put money into, to let him know. When I asked him to invest in Harris Tweed Hebrides, he was true to his word and off we went with myself as chairman and general frontman.
The Haggas business was eventually handed over to the workforce, so his legacy was not entirely negative. In fact, if it hadn’t been for his initial bonkers strategy, Harris Tweed Hebrides would never have existed and I would have missed a lot of good fun and great experiences.
An immediate challenge for the company was to ‘rescue’ clients who had been told by Haggas they would never be able to buy Harris Tweed again.
I recall a telephone conversation with the head of menswear at Ralph Lauren, loyal users of Harris Tweed, who was incandescent. ‘No supplier sacks Ralph Lauren,’ he roared, ‘Ralph Lauren sacks suppliers!’
The new company’s chief executive, Ian Angus Mackenzie, knew more about Harris Tweed than anyone else in the world. He put together a team of industry veterans.
As it became clear the industry had a future as well as a past, the age profile of mill workers and home weavers
began to fall. Mark Hogarth joined as creative director and became critical to changing the fabric’s image. Mark had priceless contacts in the fashion world. As beautiful models and brilliant designers were brought into the mix, he coined the slogan ‘Not just for Miss Marple!’
It was an exhilarating time to be involved in a wonderful industry.
When Harris Tweed Hebrides started, more than 90 per cent of output went into men’s jackets – and it’s now less than half.
Japan, where provenance and quality are revered, became our biggest export market and that was where the use of Harris Tweed in accessories took off. Interiors also helped to expand the range of uses.
Footwear was another new market. Prior to Harris Tweed Hebrides, Nike – out of the blue – placed a vast order with a renowned weaver
Donald John Mackay, in Luskentyre, Harris. He shared it out around the island and ‘the Nike order’ became a legend.
In ladies’ fashion, many leading designers have long used Harris Tweed for its unique quality and richness of colour. Orders from Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana or Dior may be small in volume but they send essential messages cascading through the market place.
Of course, celebrity users are also welcome. Among our many promotional adventures, I recall one starting from the film Argo, the story of a rescue of hostages in the Iranian revolution. In the film, Ben Affleck modelled himself on the real-life CIA man he was playing, Tony Mendez – who wore Harris Tweed jackets throughout the film.
We couldn’t afford Ben Affleck but I tracked down Tony Mendez who confirmed the story. He told
me that in the 1970s Harris Tweed jackets and chinos were the standard dress code of CIA agents. It led to a memorable media lunch in New York with Tony and his wife as guests of honour.
One of the most loyal supporters of Harris Tweed has been the Princess Royal, who opened an extension to the Shawbost mill in 2017. Harris Tweed Hebrides has
Castro was such a fan of Scotch whisky
designed a tweed for Scottish Rugby prior to the World Cup in Japan and it is great to see Princess Anne wear it on international match-days.
Sustainability has swelled in importance but is a box that Harris Tweed has ticked for more than a century. If there was ever an antithesis to ‘throwaway fashion’ it is a tweed that can be handed down from generation to generation.
Over the past 15 years, Mark and I promoted Harris Tweed around the world. We constantly found that people who knew their textiles – buyers, tailors, designers – held our fabric in the highest regard. They might not know where it came from but they knew about the quality.
It was a matter of great sadness that Ian Taylor died in 2020 after battling cancer. The islands and the industry owe him a lot. For myself, it has been a great journey to be on – particularly because of its importance to where I live.
None of it would be happening without the ‘protectionism’ enshrined in the Harris Tweed Act. That’s what makes this proud Hebridean industry as indestructible as the fabric itself. lBrian Wilson has just retired as chairman of Harris Tweed Hebrides