Kakhovka disaster: – Ukrainian woman: “Forcing people to drown!”

Ukraine says the rupture of the Kakhovka dam in the south of the war-torn country is the worst man-made disaster in decades. Now the head of the military administration in Kherson, Alexander Prokudin, said the water had dropped 20 centimeters during the night. However, you cannot breathe easily yet.

The town of Oleschky has been particularly affected
The city of Oleshky, located in the southern Ukrainian Kherson oblast, was the worst affected by the flooding. Hundreds of people are still on rooftops waiting to be rescued and thousands are in need of help, according to the city’s mayor. The politician said on Ukrainian television that the authorities deployed by Russia did nothing to save the residents. Volunteers indicate that it is very chaotic and that they are hindered in their work.

Shot at evacuation zone
An eyewitness spoke of hundreds of deaths. Like the city of Kherson, Oleschky was fired upon by Russian troops in the evacuation zone. According to Ukrainian sources, Russian air strikes on the center of Kherson and the surrounding area killed one person and injured 18 others, including members of the emergency services.

Those affected are left to fend for themselves
The residents of Oleschky accuse the Russian authorities of reacting very late to the breach of the megadam. It was very strange. They were initially told that a large-scale evacuation would not be necessary. The evening after the destruction of the dam, it was said that a plan had been drawn up for the evacuation of residents, but there were too few investigations. “People don’t want to leave,” Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said. The residents were therefore completely alone and tried to get to safety on their own. The Ukrainian armed forces were able to capture people desperately begging for help with a drone:

Save only with Russian passport
The independent Russian-Latvian news portal Meduza writes that the Russian armed forces did not even allow all residents who managed to escape from the flooded cities. Only those who had Russian citizenship got past the Russians. This information was also confirmed by the mayor of the city. “They (the Russian Armed Forces, editor’s note) force people to drown in their houses, so to speak,” a Ukrainian told Meduza.

It was not until the evening of June 7 (the accident happened on the morning of June 6, editor’s note) that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russian ruler Vladimir Putin had finally ordered the Emergency Situations Ministry to release the people to save. from the flooded areas.

Corpses float in the water
However, according to Meduza, some people couldn’t even get to the roof. “My mother is a powerfully built and heavy woman. She just drowned,” said one victim. The independent Russian news portal Vashnye Istorii reports bodies floating in the water. “Many people have drowned. More and more bodies are appearing,” the Financial Times quotes a local volunteer as saying.

Many animals died
Many animals also died in the floods, such as dogs leashed at private homes. Meanwhile, there are also new details about the tragedy at Kazkova Dibrova Zoo, located in the city of Nowa Kachowka. There, all (almost 300) animals died from the flood (we reported). According to new information, the animals died because they could not free themselves from their cages.

The zoo’s Facebook page says the animals could not be rescued because all roads were closed. The surrounding areas are being mined. According to the mayor, the animals could not be released from the cages immediately after the dam broke. Because the Russian armed forces would have simply denied entry to the zoo’s employees. The nuisance is great. Videos of them are shared online in memory of the animals.

Fights are getting fiercer
Russia began its offensive war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, bringing death and destruction to the country and occupying countless territories. The fighting had intensified significantly in recent days. Russian border regions such as Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk also complained about increased shelling.