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Kherson, Ukraine: Hundreds of people have been evacuated from settlements across the southern part of Ukraine Dnipro River On Tuesday after the water burst through the breach Nova Kakhovka DamAnd submerged streets and city squares.
The collapse of the barrier at the southern tip of the vast Kakhovka Reservoir created a torrent, adding to the misery of thousands of people who were trapped on the front lines of the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Looking downstream, Russia controls the left bank of the Dnieper and the dam itself, and Ukraine owns the right bank. Each side blamed the other for the damage that caused the latest crisis in the conflict.
Footage posted on social media, not all of which has been independently verified by Reuters, shows severe flooding in the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka, which is adjacent to the dam.
The town’s mayor, installed by Russia, said the water level in the town had risen to more than 11 metres, and some residents had been taken to hospital. He did not elaborate.
In one clip, swans swim in front of the ornate city hall building, while in another a sports field by the river is flooded.
The administration of Ukraine’s Kherson region, which was set up by Russia, said it was preparing to evacuate three districts – Nova Kakhovka, Golo-Pristan and Oleshki. The latter two lie across the mouth of the Dnipro River from Kherson, the Ukrainian-controlled regional capital.
Residents said the water level there had already risen by more than a meter and was expected to rise further.
“The water flow in the Dnipro River and its tributaries is very strong,” Kherson resident Oleksandr Semyk said, standing by the swollen river.
“The water level rose by one metre. We’ll see what happens next, but we hope for the best.”
Ukrainian police released a video showing an officer carrying an old woman to safety and residents wading to safety through deep waters in the Kherson region.
Oleksandr Tolkonnikov, a senior official in Kherson Ukraine’s military department, warned that the worst was to come.
“Tomorrow will be the peak (of the floods) and then there will be a decline,” he told an online news briefing.
“We have already evacuated about 1,000 people. We have about 50 buses that shuttle between Kherson and the affected villages. In Kherson we have four evacuation sites ready.”
The dam provides water to a vast area of ​​farmland in southern Ukraine and Russian-occupied Crimea, as well as cooling the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear plant.
Its destruction leads to a new humanitarian catastrophe as Ukraine launches a long-awaited counter-offensive to expel Russian forces from its territory.
The collapse of the barrier at the southern tip of the vast Kakhovka Reservoir created a torrent, adding to the misery of thousands of people who were trapped on the front lines of the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Looking downstream, Russia controls the left bank of the Dnieper and the dam itself, and Ukraine owns the right bank. Each side blamed the other for the damage that caused the latest crisis in the conflict.
Footage posted on social media, not all of which has been independently verified by Reuters, shows severe flooding in the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka, which is adjacent to the dam.
The town’s mayor, installed by Russia, said the water level in the town had risen to more than 11 metres, and some residents had been taken to hospital. He did not elaborate.
In one clip, swans swim in front of the ornate city hall building, while in another a sports field by the river is flooded.
The administration of Ukraine’s Kherson region, which was set up by Russia, said it was preparing to evacuate three districts – Nova Kakhovka, Golo-Pristan and Oleshki. The latter two lie across the mouth of the Dnipro River from Kherson, the Ukrainian-controlled regional capital.
Residents said the water level there had already risen by more than a meter and was expected to rise further.
“The water flow in the Dnipro River and its tributaries is very strong,” Kherson resident Oleksandr Semyk said, standing by the swollen river.
“The water level rose by one metre. We’ll see what happens next, but we hope for the best.”
Ukrainian police released a video showing an officer carrying an old woman to safety and residents wading to safety through deep waters in the Kherson region.
Oleksandr Tolkonnikov, a senior official in Kherson Ukraine’s military department, warned that the worst was to come.
“Tomorrow will be the peak (of the floods) and then there will be a decline,” he told an online news briefing.
“We have already evacuated about 1,000 people. We have about 50 buses that shuttle between Kherson and the affected villages. In Kherson we have four evacuation sites ready.”
The dam provides water to a vast area of ​​farmland in southern Ukraine and Russian-occupied Crimea, as well as cooling the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear plant.
Its destruction leads to a new humanitarian catastrophe as Ukraine launches a long-awaited counter-offensive to expel Russian forces from its territory.
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