Russia Ukraine War: Russia shocked by the breaking of the Nova Kakhovka dam, fierce bombardment on Ukrainian occupied Kherson submerged in flood

Russia Ukraine War: Russia shocked by the breaking of the Nova Kakhovka dam, fierce bombardment on Ukrainian occupied Kherson submerged in flood

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Kherson: Russian forces on Thursday bombarded a southern Ukrainian city submerged in water after a dam broke, suspending some rescue operations. The bombing came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the area to take stock of the damage. At least five people have died and many others have been left homeless and thousands are living in tents without drinking water after the collapse of the Kokhovka Dam. Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of deliberately destroying the dam, as it was located in an area held by Russian forces, while Russia has blamed Ukrainian shelling for the breach.

According to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, the city of Kherson was shelled in the afternoon and emergency teams and volunteers were distributing aid near the site where the shells fell. The ministry said the bombardment hit exits from the city and wounded eight people. Rescue work has been temporarily halted due to shelling that took place a few hours after President Zelensky’s visit. The ministry said the bombing occurred during the evacuation of people from the flood-hit area. He said that Russia has abandoned the people affected by the disaster in the territory under its occupation and is constantly preventing Ukraine from saving lives. This dam was built on the Nipper River.

President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived on the Ukrainian-controlled west coast on Thursday to assess the damage caused by the dam’s breach. Ukraine’s leader wrote on his Telegram account that he was helping to assess efforts to evacuate civilians. His office said in an online update that after visiting an aid distribution center and medical camp, Zelensky ordered Ukrainian authorities to conduct a “proper review” of the flood damage and a plan to compensate those affected. .

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Russian president currently has no plans to visit flood-affected areas in Moscow’s occupied territory. Vladimir Leontiev, the Russian-appointed mayor of the town of Novaya Kakhovka, told Russian state TV on Thursday that five of the seven local people who were declared missing after Tuesday’s dam breach have died. The Russian-controlled town is five kilometers from where the Kakhovka dam broke.

He said two more people have been traced and efforts are on to rescue them. Officials said that more than 6,000 people have been evacuated from areas controlled by Russia and Ukraine near the Dnieper River and many towns and villages have been submerged in water. This river remains the front of the battle.

Officials appointed by Russia in the Russian-occupied areas said that about two dozen people have been admitted to hospitals while 4,280 people have been evacuated to safer places and about 14,000 buildings have been flooded. Regional governor Alexander Prokudin said flood levels in the region were 5.6 meters above normal on Thursday morning and covered some 600 square kilometers of the region, more than two-thirds of the Russian-controlled east coast.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter that the destruction of the dam was an “attack” and an “atrocious act”. Although he did not tell who is responsible for this. Paris said it was sending aid to help those displaced by the disaster, including water purifiers, half a million water-purifying tablets and hygiene kits.

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