Floods: the death toll rises to six dead and thirty-five missing on the Ukrainian side
The Ukrainian authorities on Sunday gave an increased toll of human losses caused by the floods that followed the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, in Kherson oblast, with six dead and thirty-five people missing in the areas under their control. A previous report reported five people dead and twenty-seven missing. In the territories occupied by the Russians, officials installed by Moscow announced this week eight dead and thirteen missing.
Tuesday’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper caused a torrential downpour on towns and villages near the river, including the regional capital, Kherson, recaptured in November by Ukrainian soldiers. Both sides blame each other for this disaster, which affected both banks of the Dnieper, each controlled by one of the belligerents.
According to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, seventy-seven localities were flooded, including fourteen in the territories under Russian occupation. In areas under Ukrainian control, 3,700 people were evacuated. In those occupied by the Russians, the local authorities say they have evacuated more than 7,000. According to Mr. Klymenko, 162,000 people are also without running water upstream of the destroyed hydroelectric dam.
In Kherson, Agence France-Presse journalists found that the water had started to recede, with early residents of that town returning home to see the damage, while evacuations continue in other areas .