Russia shells city affected by flooding
Attack follows visit by President Zelenskyy
Vasilisa Stepanenko and Jamey Keaten
KHERSON, Ukraine – Russian forces on Thursday shelled a southern Ukrainian city that was inundated in a catastrophic dam collapse, Ukrainian officials said, forcing a suspension of some rescue work hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the area to assess the damage.
At least five people have died, many are homeless, and tens of thousands are without drinking water after the Kakhovka dam’s destruction. Ukraine accused Russia of blowing up the facility, which Moscow’s forces controlled, while Russia said Ukraine bombarded it. The ensuing flooding has ruined crops, displaced land mines, wrought widespread environmental damage, and set the stage for longterm electricity shortages. Exclusive drone footage captured by The Associated Press showed the ruined dam falling into the flooded river and hundreds of submerged homes, greenhouses and even a church.
In Kherson city, the largest municipality affected, repeated Russian shelling echoed overhead in the early afternoon not far from a square where emergency crews and volunteers were dispensing aid. Some evacuation points in the city were hit, wounding eight people, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
As shells landed in floodwaters, rescue workers temporarily suspended efforts to retrieve stranded residents and pets in an area that Zelenskyy had visited only hours earlier.
“The strikes began during evacuation of the residents, whose houses were flooded,” the ministry said. “Russia has abandoned people in calamity in the occupied part of the Kherson region. It continues to prevent Ukraine from saving the most valuable – human lives.”
The dam lay along Dnieper River, a pivotal waterway that forms part of the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces. In recent weeks, Ukraine intensified shelling of Russian positions, signaling a long-expected counteroffensive could finally be getting underway. Kyiv has been silent about the start of any such campaign.
Amid the fighting, both sides were coping with the fallout from the burst dam. On Thursday, Ukrainian rescue workers stepped up efforts to get drinking water, medical care and other support to beleaguered residents.
Zelenskyy traveled to Kherson to see the efforts firsthand. He visited an aid distribution point and a medical facility and ordered Ukrainian officials to provide a “fair valuation” of the devastation to help compensate residents, his office said in an online update.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “has no plans at the current moment” to visit the affected Moscow-occupied areas, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
Five residents of the Russian-occupied city of Nova Kakhovka have died, its Kremlinappointed mayor said Thursday. Vladimir Leontyev said on Russian state TV that in addition two other people who had gone missing had been found. The collapse of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam and emptying of its reservoir on the river have added to the misery that the region has suffered for more than a year from artillery and missile attacks. The United Nations and local authorities say access to fresh water and avoidance of contact with water contaminated by explosives and chemicals from industrial sites were among the most immediate concerns.
Officials say more than 6,000 people have been evacuated from dozens of inundated cities, towns and villages on both sides of the river. The true scale of the disaster is yet to emerge in an affected area that was home to more than 60,000 people.