WORLD
Kherson, Ukraine | AFP
Thousands Flee Flooded Homes After Ukraine Dam Destroyed
A local resident sets afloat his boat onto the water during an evacuation from a flooded area in Kherson on June 7, 2023, following damages sustained at Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam. Ukraine was evacuating thousands of people on June 7 after an attack on a major Russian-held dam unleashed a torrent of water, inundating two dozen villages and sparking fears of a humanitarian disaster.
ALEKSEY FILIPPOV / AFP
ALEKSEY FILIPPOV / AFP
by Yulia Silina
Thousands fled their homes Wednesday after the destruction of a Russian-held dam in Ukraine flooded dozens of villages and parts of a nearby city, sparking fears of a humanitarian disaster.
Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for the Kakhovka dam being ripped open on Tuesday, with President Vladimir Putin calling the destruction a "barbaric act", in his first public reaction.
The breach of the dam in southern Ukraine, which provides cooling water for Europe's largest nuclear plant, took place as Ukrainian troops prepared to go on the offensive to recover lost territory.
Downstream from the breached Kakhovka dam, police and troops in Kherson were bringing people out from inundated areas in inflatable boats, most clutching only a few documents or pets.
Despite the evacuations, officials said Russian forces have kept shelling the residential neighbourhoods.
"We're used to shooting, but a natural disaster is a real nightmare. I wasn't expecting that," said Nataliya Korzh, 68, who had to swim part of the way to escape from her house.
"All my rooms are underwater. My fridge is floating, the freezer, everything," she told AFP.
She emerged from a rescue boat barefoot, her legs covered with scratches, her hands trembling from cold.
"We no longer have a home," said Dmitry Melnikov, 46, who was evacuated with his five children.
"We have been here since the beginning of the war, we survived the occupation," said Melnikov, whose family was being sent to the southern city of Mykolaiv.
"But now we have no home, no nothing, no work. We don't want to leave, but what can we do?"
The water was waist-deep in central streets of Kherson and ground floors of buildings were submerged.
Water levels in Kherson have risen by five metres (16 feet), officials said.
As finger-pointing persisted over the dam's destruction, Moscow accused Kyiv of blowing up a section of the Togliatti-Odesa pipeline that Russia used before the war to export ammonia, and whose re-activation it has requested as part of talks for a deal on Ukraine grain exports.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of firing at the pipeline.
- Erdogan proposes probe -
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed setting up an international commission to investigate the damage as he spoke with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky said on Twitter that he had sent Erdogan "a list of Ukraine's urgent needs to eliminate the disaster", while Putin said the breach was "a barbaric act which has led to a large-scale environmental and humanitarian catastrophe", according to the Kremlin.
The governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that 1,700 people had been evacuated so far and that ongoing shelling was endangering rescuers and locals.
Moscow-installed officials on the Russian-occupied side of the river said Tuesday that more than 1,200 people had been evacuated.
A policeman, Sergiy, 38, was using a radio to coordinate the rescue boats.
"Today we've already saved 30 people, 10 pets. There was one child. We will work until we've brought out all the people," he told AFP.
Washington warned there would be "likely many deaths" due to the breach of the dam.
Kyiv said the destruction of the dam -- seized by Russia in the early hours of the war -- was an attempt by Moscow to hamper its long-awaited offensive, which Ukraine's leader insisted would not be affected.
The United Nations warned that hundreds of thousands could be affected on both sides of the frontline.
Prokudin said 1,852 houses had been flooded by early Wednesday.
"According to our forecasts, the water level will increase by one metre within the next 20 hours," he warned.
- 'Environmental bomb' -
Zelensky accused Russia of detonating an "environmental bomb of mass destruction", saying authorities expected up to 80 settlements with tens of thousands of residents to be flooded and urging the world to "react".
"This crime carries enormous threats and will have dire consequences for people's lives and the environment," Zelensky said.
But the explosion would "not affect Ukraine's ability to de-occupy its own territories", he added.
Last October, Zelensky accused Russia of planting mines at the dam, warning that its destruction would spur a new wave of refugees into Europe.
Kyiv said 150 tonnes of engine oil had spilled into the river, and the agricultural ministry said about 10 thousand hectares of farmland on the right bank of the river would be flooded and "several times more" on the left bank.
China expressed "serious concern" over the dam destruction, while EU chief Charles Michel called it a "war crime" and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg condemned it as "outrageous".
Russia has said the dam was partially destroyed by "multiple strikes" from Ukrainian forces and urged the world to condemn Kyiv's "criminal acts".
The reservoir formed by the Soviet-era dam on the Dnipro River, built in the 1950s, provides cooling water for the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant some 150 kilometres (90 miles) away.
Ukraine has warned that the breach endangers the safety of the nuclear plant, though the UN nuclear watchdog agency said there was "no short-term risk".
© Agence France-Presse
Thousands fled their homes Wednesday after the destruction of a Russian-held dam in Ukraine flooded dozens of villages and parts of a nearby city, sparking fears of a humanitarian disaster.
Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for the Kakhovka dam being ripped open on Tuesday, with President Vladimir Putin calling the destruction a "barbaric act", in his first public reaction.
The breach of the dam in southern Ukraine, which provides cooling water for Europe's largest nuclear plant, took place as Ukrainian troops prepared to go on the offensive to recover lost territory.
Downstream from the breached Kakhovka dam, police and troops in Kherson were bringing people out from inundated areas in inflatable boats, most clutching only a few documents or pets.
Despite the evacuations, officials said Russian forces have kept shelling the residential neighbourhoods.
"We're used to shooting, but a natural disaster is a real nightmare. I wasn't expecting that," said Nataliya Korzh, 68, who had to swim part of the way to escape from her house.
"All my rooms are underwater. My fridge is floating, the freezer, everything," she told AFP.
She emerged from a rescue boat barefoot, her legs covered with scratches, her hands trembling from cold.
"We no longer have a home," said Dmitry Melnikov, 46, who was evacuated with his five children.
"We have been here since the beginning of the war, we survived the occupation," said Melnikov, whose family was being sent to the southern city of Mykolaiv.
"But now we have no home, no nothing, no work. We don't want to leave, but what can we do?"
The water was waist-deep in central streets of Kherson and ground floors of buildings were submerged.
Water levels in Kherson have risen by five metres (16 feet), officials said.
As finger-pointing persisted over the dam's destruction, Moscow accused Kyiv of blowing up a section of the Togliatti-Odesa pipeline that Russia used before the war to export ammonia, and whose re-activation it has requested as part of talks for a deal on Ukraine grain exports.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of firing at the pipeline.
- Erdogan proposes probe -
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed setting up an international commission to investigate the damage as he spoke with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky said on Twitter that he had sent Erdogan "a list of Ukraine's urgent needs to eliminate the disaster", while Putin said the breach was "a barbaric act which has led to a large-scale environmental and humanitarian catastrophe", according to the Kremlin.
The governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that 1,700 people had been evacuated so far and that ongoing shelling was endangering rescuers and locals.
Moscow-installed officials on the Russian-occupied side of the river said Tuesday that more than 1,200 people had been evacuated.
A policeman, Sergiy, 38, was using a radio to coordinate the rescue boats.
"Today we've already saved 30 people, 10 pets. There was one child. We will work until we've brought out all the people," he told AFP.
Washington warned there would be "likely many deaths" due to the breach of the dam.
Kyiv said the destruction of the dam -- seized by Russia in the early hours of the war -- was an attempt by Moscow to hamper its long-awaited offensive, which Ukraine's leader insisted would not be affected.
The United Nations warned that hundreds of thousands could be affected on both sides of the frontline.
Prokudin said 1,852 houses had been flooded by early Wednesday.
"According to our forecasts, the water level will increase by one metre within the next 20 hours," he warned.
- 'Environmental bomb' -
Zelensky accused Russia of detonating an "environmental bomb of mass destruction", saying authorities expected up to 80 settlements with tens of thousands of residents to be flooded and urging the world to "react".
"This crime carries enormous threats and will have dire consequences for people's lives and the environment," Zelensky said.
But the explosion would "not affect Ukraine's ability to de-occupy its own territories", he added.
Last October, Zelensky accused Russia of planting mines at the dam, warning that its destruction would spur a new wave of refugees into Europe.
Kyiv said 150 tonnes of engine oil had spilled into the river, and the agricultural ministry said about 10 thousand hectares of farmland on the right bank of the river would be flooded and "several times more" on the left bank.
China expressed "serious concern" over the dam destruction, while EU chief Charles Michel called it a "war crime" and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg condemned it as "outrageous".
Russia has said the dam was partially destroyed by "multiple strikes" from Ukrainian forces and urged the world to condemn Kyiv's "criminal acts".
The reservoir formed by the Soviet-era dam on the Dnipro River, built in the 1950s, provides cooling water for the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant some 150 kilometres (90 miles) away.
Ukraine has warned that the breach endangers the safety of the nuclear plant, though the UN nuclear watchdog agency said there was "no short-term risk".
© Agence France-Presse
Jun 7, 2023
