More than a thousand homes in an area occupied by Russian troops in Ukraine’s Kherson region are no longer flooded by water released from the Kakhovka dam, which was partially destroyed last Tuesday.
Kherson’s interim governor Vladimir Saldo confirmed on Monday that “the peak of the flooding has passed” and that water levels have fallen below five feet in some districts of the region.
According to Vladimir Saldo, Defense Ministry specialists have already started disinfecting the flood-affected area.
According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, 1,659 people are still in shelters.
Russian hydroelectric company RusHydro estimates that water in the Dnieper River will return to normal next Friday.
More than 7,000 people, including 410 children, were evacuated from their homes in the Russian-occupied towns of Nova Kakhovka, Oleskhi and Hola Pristan.
On Friday, Russian authorities estimated the death toll from the floods at eight, while volunteers put it at several dozen, according to media outlets such as the independent Russian information website The Insider.
However, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said five people had died in northern Kherson and 13 others had been reported missing.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River on Tuesday caused flooding in neighboring municipalities and raised concerns about the Zaporijia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, located 150 kilometers upstream and occupied by the Russians.
Since the catastrophe, for which Russia has been blamed by Kiev and Western partners, the level of the dam has dropped “rapidly” Monday morning from 17 to 11.27 meters, according to data received by officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency (AEIA).
The dam’s failure led to the displacement of nearly 9,000 people in southern Ukraine.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14.7 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.2 million to European countries – according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
Source: DN
