Currently there exists a problem of carrying out a safe and environmentally friendly breaking of solid objects located in confined spaces. The article presents the results of studying the possibility of solving this problem by replacing blasting of a solid structure with explosives with its breaking using the electrohydraulic shock effect. The physical nature of the electrohydraulic effect is described, the design diagrams and the method of calculating the optimum parameters of the breaking device are given. Electrohydraulic units can be used in the boulder storage areas prior to the first crushing stage in the mining industry. The results of laboratory experiments on electrohydraulic crushing of granite objects are presented. A conclusion is made that the proposed technology is potentially effective for crushing solid materials, e.g. oversized blocks of rock, boulders, frozen ground, ice, concrete and reinforced concrete structures. The results obtained during the study confirm the practical possibility of environmentally friendly and safe breaking of solid rocks using the effect of electrohydraulic impact.