The Ukrainian president traveled to Kherson province, in southern Ukraine, this Thursday to coordinate emergency operations with authorities in the region affected by the disaster caused by the destruction of the Kakhova dam.
“In Kherson, I visited the border crossings, where people are being evacuated from the flooded areas,” said Volodymyr Zelensky on his ‘Telegram’ account, where he also posted a video of his encounter with local authorities.
“It is our job to save lives and help as many people as possible. I thank the rescue teams and volunteers. Thanks to everyone involved in these tasks,” the Ukrainian head of state wrote, quoted by the Spanish news agency Efe.
Footage posted on social media shows Zelensky arriving in one of the disaster areas with his military escort.
On his “Telegram” account, the President of Ukraine has published another video, in which he listens to those responsible for the rescue apparatus in one of the cities of Kherson, which was flooded by the flooding waters of the dam.
“It is important to calculate the damage and allocate funds to compensate the residents affected by the disaster,” said Zelensky, who called for help so that businesses affected by the floods could move to other parts of the region.
Meanwhile, Russia today estimated that five people died in flooding in the Kherson region, following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.
“It was reported today that of the seven people who were herding, five drowned. We are now withdrawing the remaining two,” mayor Vladimir Leontiev of the new Kakhovka city told Solovyov Live.
The Minister of Labor and Social Policy for Russian-controlled areas in Kherson province, Alla Barkhatnova, said on state television Rossiya-24 that at least 41 people had been hospitalized “with hypothermia or some acute illness”.
He also said 4,500 people had so far been evacuated from Russian-controlled areas in Kherson, on the left bank of the Dnieper River.
For their part, the Ukrainian emergency services announced that they had evacuated more than 2,000 people from the affected areas.
The Kakhovka dam is located in the Kherson region, annexed by Russia, but Ukrainian troops control the part on the right bank of the Dnieper River, and Russian troops control the left bank.
Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of destroying part of the dam that supplies water to the Crimean peninsula occupied and annexed by Russia in 2014.
Source: DN
