After dam destruction
Selenskyj visits the severely hit flood area
06/08/2023 12:02 p.m
Shortly after the Kachowka dam in southern Ukraine ruptured, the Ukrainian President reached the disaster area and got an idea of the situation. The President has previously expressed clear criticism of international aid organizations.
A few days after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the flooded region. In the Cherson region, among other things, he got an idea of the ongoing evacuations, Zelenskyj said on his official Telegram channel. He also released a video showing him with local residents, rescuers and soldiers. You can also see houses, of which only the tip of the roof protrudes from meter-high water masses.
A tweet from the President read: “Countless humanitarian questions. We must answer them all. I am grateful to everyone who is helping our people. Thanks to everyone in the world who condemns the crimes of the Russian occupiers. Russia has to for everything what it does against life and people to be held accountable.”
The dam in the city of Nowa Kachowka, which was occupied by Russian troops, was destroyed on Tuesday night. Since then, huge amounts of water have flowed out of the reservoir. Numerous places have been flooded, including the regional capital of Kherson. Like many international observers, Ukraine blames Russia for the disaster. The government of the attacked country is convinced that Moscow had the dam blown up in order to hinder the planned Ukrainian counter-offensive. Moscow, which has launched various disinformation campaigns in the past, denies the allegations and blames Kiev.
Criticism of international aid organizations
Zelenskyj has already called on the world community to provide more help for the flood victims and has criticized international aid organizations for their alleged passivity. According to him, around 2,000 people have been brought to safety in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the flooded area. Above all, however, the situation of the people on the Russian-occupied side of the Dnipro River, which has been particularly hard hit by the floods, is causing great concern.
Water masses continued to flow out of the reservoir on Thursday. The water level in the lake had dropped by one meter within 24 hours and was 13.05 meters as of 7:00 a.m. CEST, according to the state hydroelectric power plant operator Ukrhydroenergo in Kiev.