Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said on Friday it has evacuated more than 1,500 people from flooded areas in eastern Ukraine’s Kherson region following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.
The ministry said rescue work continues in the area, where “a group of more than 190” with 66 vehicles is active, and emergency services in other cities have been “placed on alert”.
In a statement quoted by Russia’s official TASS news agency, the ministry guaranteed teams would be set up to try and mitigate the effects of the floods.
Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov, in accordance with instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin, ordered his deputy, Anatoly Suprunovsky, to visit the affected regions, the statement added.
Tuesday morning’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam, for which Moscow and Kiev deny responsibility, killed at least five people and forced thousands of flooded towns and villages to flee on both sides of the river, including parts of the regional capital of Kherson.
In recent days, Ukrainians have accused the Russian military of offensive operations to remove thousands of civilians from the flooded areas following the destruction of the dam upstream of the Dnieper River.
Kiev said one person was killed and 18 injured, including members of the emergency services, in Russian attacks in and around Kherson’s center.
On Thursday, the operator of the Zaporijia nuclear power plant, Ukrhydroenergo, warned that the level of the water reservoir at the Kakhovka dam is no longer sufficient to cool the plant’s reactors.
The water level, “below the critical limit of 12.7 meters”, is no longer sufficient to provide “the basins of the plant” with cooling operations, Ukrhydroenergo head Igor Syrota said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met by video conference Thursday evening with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and other climate change activists and experts to assess the impact of the dam’s destruction.
According to the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrey Yermak, Thunberg said she was “ready to put pressure on relevant international organizations” to respond to the disaster.
In addition to Thunberg, former Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom and former Irish President Mary Robinson, among others, participated in the meeting with Zelensky.
The Ukrainian head of state announced the creation of an “international high-level working group” to “consolidate global efforts to hold Russia accountable for the ecocide in Ukraine.”
Source: DN
