“Russians shoot at rescuers”
Selenskyj calls for UN aid for occupied Cherson
06/08/2023, 00:12
Especially in the Russian-occupied part of Cherson, Zelenskyj sees the people in a desperate situation. Instead of helping, the occupiers would shoot at Ukrainian rescuers. The President demands immediate action from the UN and the Red Cross.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, people died in the floods caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. “People, animals have died. From the roofs of the flooded houses, people see drowned people drifting by,” he said in an interview with “Welt”, “Bild” and “Politico” in Kiev. He made serious accusations against the Russian troops on the southern bank of the Dnipro that they had conquered: “If our forces try to get people out, the occupiers will shoot at them from afar.”
Selenskyj expressed his disappointment that, according to him, the UN and the Red Cross had not yet helped his country in the dam rupture disaster. You have to “be there first to save lives,” he said. But: “They are not here!” After a recapture of the area from the Russians, the Ukrainian President wants to initiate an international investigation. Then Ukraine will invite all international experts to investigate the incident, he said.
Zelenskyj considers Russia’s responsibility for the catastrophe to have been proven and believes that the Russian side underestimated the blasting operation. In anticipation of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, they wanted to make the liberation of the areas more difficult in this way. “They didn’t think that they would also flood their occupied territories,” he explained.
No information about victims
In his evening video speech, Selenskyj intensified his criticism of the international aid organizations and accused them of being passive. “Every dead person is a judgment for the existing international architecture, for international organizations that have forgotten how to save lives,” he said in the evening. He did not say how many Ukrainians died in the floods. Instead, he spoke of 2,000 people who had been rescued in the Ukrainian part of the Cherson region, which was particularly hard hit by the floods.
However, the situation is desperate in the Russian-occupied part of the area. In his video speech, Selenskyj accused the Russian troops of abandoning the people there – and torpedoing Ukrainian rescue attempts. In this context, he criticized international aid organizations such as the Red Cross, which he believed should be more active in this region.
On the other hand, he thanked bilateral aid commitments from abroad. He called French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed concrete offers of help, he said.