Thousands evacuate flooded Kherson

Ukrainian PM urges U.N. and Red Cross to help flooded residents in Russian-controlled areas

Ukraine’s prime minister today urged the United Nations, the International Red Cross and other world bodies to act immediately to help flooded residents of southern Ukraine in areas controlled by Russian occupying forces.

“The Russian occupiers don’t even make an effort to help these people, they have left them to perish,” Denys Shmyhal said in English in a video posted on Telegram, referring to the aftermath of the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.

“International humanitarian organizations, on behalf of the government of Ukraine, I urge you: you must act immediately.

 “We appeal to you to take charge of evacuating people from the territory of Kherson oblast occupied by Russia, we must save the lives of people whom the occupiers have condemned to death.” 

Putin calls dam attack a ‘barbaric action’

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, described the destruction of the Kakhovka dam as a “barbaric action” — a more dramatic characterization of the collapse after the Kremlin first appeared to downplay the disaster.

The description appeared in the Kremlin’s official readout of Putin and his Turkish counterpart’s conversation, which covered other issues.

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of carrying out the attack, and U.S. officials told NBC News on Tuesday that intelligence suggests Putin’s regime was the culprit. Moscow denies that allegation and insists that Kyiv was behind the incident.

Some 3,000 people evacuated from Russian and Ukrainian sides of river

About 3,000 people have been evacuated from flooded areas on both the Russian and the Ukrainian-controlled sides of the river that forms part of the front line in the 15-month war, officials said today.

It was not clear whether the true scale of the disaster had yet emerged in an affected area that was home to more than 60,000 people. Russian-appointed authorities in the occupied parts of the Kherson region reported 15,000 homes were flooded.

Nova Kakhovka resident takes stock of his flooded home after dam breach

June 7, 202301:25

What could the dam disaster mean for Russia’s war?

As officials scramble to evacuate thousands, experts assess the environmental toll and both sides trade blame, one key question hung over the flooded fields of Kherson: Who, if anyone, might stand to gain from this stunning turn in the war?

Military analysts and Ukrainian officials said the timing of the dam breach, just as speculation mounted that Kyiv had launched its counteroffensive, may not be a coincidence.

Read more here on what the disaster could mean for the conflict.

Hundreds of dead fish line the banks of the Kakhovka reservoir, new video shows

The banks of the drained Kakhkovka reservoir are covered in dead and dying fish, according to a video released by Ukraine today.

The State Agency of Land Reclamation and Fisheries said the video was filmed near the village of Marianske and showed “a significant number of dead fish,” including silver crucian carp.

Experts are still assessing the full extent of the environmental damage caused by the dam collapse, which Zelenskyy called “an environmental bomb of mass destruction.”

Ukraine releases footage of drone delivering water to stranded resident

Drones are being used to deliver essential supplies, according to a new video released by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry today.

The video shows the unmanned vehicle hovering over a house completely surrounded by water, before hovering and dropping a bottle of drinking water to someone reaching out through a skylight.

Ukrainian emergency services have evacuated more than 2,000 people from the Kherson region so far, officials said, with many more thought to require assistance.

Serhii, 60, rescues his daughter’s belongings from rising floodwaters in Kherson today, following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.

Around 2,000 people have been evacuated from Kherson, senior official says

Around 2,000 people have been evacuated from the city of Kherson, Zelenskyy’s deputy chief of staff said in a TV interview today.  

Oleksiy Kuleba said that the “most difficult situation” was in the Korabelnyi district of the city, which sits on the western bank of the Dnieper River.

He added that “about 2,000 people have been evacuated,” from Kherson in total.

Ukraine warns of floating mines and disease 

A senior Ukrainian official warned of the danger posed by floating mines unearthed by flooding and the spread of disease and hazardous chemicals today as he inspected damage caused by the collapse of the Kakhovka dam.

Visiting the city of Kherson, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov told reporters that more than 80 settlements had been affected in a disaster. Blaming the dam’s collapse on Russia, he said, “They did it in order to free up troops in this direction by flooding this bit of the frontline.”

He added that water was “disturbing mines that were laid earlier, causing them to explode.” As a result of the flooding, infectious diseases and chemicals were getting into the water, he said.

Although it denies blowing up the dam, Moscow has engaged in a campaign of airstrikes against Ukraine’s energy system in which Kyiv says infrastructure of other dams has been damaged.

Zelenskyy says Russia is failing to evacuate people from occupied territories

Zelenskyy accused Russian authorities of failing to evacuate people from the left bank of the Dnieper today.

“Evacuation on the left bank has been completely failed by the occupiers,” he said on his Telegram channel. “We will appeal to international organizations.”

He added that Ukrainian minister Ihor Klymenko, newly appointed head of the emergency response headquarters, was coordinating Kyiv’s response “on the ground,” which includes evacuating people and supplying drinking water.

Entire neighborhoods in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson were submerged today after the walls of the Kakhovka dam were destroyed.

Russian-controlled Kherson to implement anti-epidemic health measures

Russian proxy officials in the Kherson region are starting to enact anti-epidemic measures to stem disease outbreaks as thousands of homes remain underwater.

The Russian-installed chairman of the government of the Kherson region, Andrey Alekseenko, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that access to drinking water is the first priority, and so far bottled water is being supplied by Russia’s Emergency Ministry and the “United Russia” party. He said officials are also starting to install barrels at crossroads in every district, so that people can get clean water for themselves.

“After the disaster, we immediately begin to restore water supply systems. Flushing, hyperchlorination,” he added.

A set of other anti-epidemic measures will also be put in place, Alekseenko said, starting with the collection and disposal of animals killed in the flooding, as well as cleaning and disinfecting of affected areas.

At least 7 people are missing in flooded Nova Kakhovka

At least seven people are missing in Nova Kakhovka, the inundated town just next to the breached dam, the Russian-installed mayor of the city said.

Vladimir Leontiev told the Russian news agency Tass today that he and emergency officials have been inspecting flooded areas. He said yesterday the water levels in the city reached almost 40 feet.

Photos and videos circulated online showed the shore district of the town largely under water.

China is ‘seriously concerned’ about the dam explosion

China is deeply worried about the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, spokesperson Wang Wenbin said today in the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s daily press conference.

“We express our grave concern over the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam and are deeply worried about the resulting humanitarian, economic and environmental impact,” he said. 

Wang added that China urges all parties to abide by international humanitarian law and protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.

More Europeans see Russia as adversary or rival, poll finds

New polling released today shows that more and more people across Europe hold a negative view of Russia, after many European leaders and officials pointed the finger at Moscow for destroying the Kakhova dam.

The European Council on Foreign Relations polled more than 16,000 people across 11 countries in April and found that almost two-thirds saw Russia as an “adversary” or a “rival.” This is up from around one-third when the council asked the same question in 2021.

In potentially bad news for American hawks on China — including those in the Biden administration who want to rally Europeans behind their cause — 43% of those surveyed saw Beijing as a “necessary partner.” Only 22% said trade with China carried more risks than benefits.

Kakhovka reservoir to disappear in days, Russian-installed official warns

The Kakhovka reservoir will cease to exist in two or three days due to a drop in the water levels and a new channel of the Dnieper will be formed, a Russian-installed official in the neighboring region said.

“According to hydrography experts, it is expected that today there will be a maximum level of water spill from the Kakhovka reservoir below the Kakhovska hydroelectric power station in the Kherson region, everything should subside from June 10,” Vladimir Rogov, an official in the Russia-backed administration of Ukraine’s partly occupied Zaporizhzhia province, told the Russian state news agency Tass.

“By June 20, since the water will go to the Black Sea, a new natural channel of the Dnieper River will appear, but without the Kakhovka reservoir. It will simply disappear, it takes two to three days for the reservoir to disappear. It will be just the Dnieper River above the Kakhovska hydroelectric power station,” Rogov said.

Nuclear plant may lose reservoir access but ‘no short-term risk’

The Kakhovka reservoir is draining so fast that within a matter of days, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant may not be able to pump water from the lake to cool its reactors, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said.

The IAEA and other experts have stressed that there is no immediate risk to the nuclear plant; its reactors are currently shut down and so require only a small amount of water to keep them from melting down. The plant has enough water in storage for this “for several months” and even then has other sources it could draw on if necessary, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement yesterday.

Between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. local time yesterday (3 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET), the reservoir level fell by 33 inches to around 50 feet deep. If it goes below 41.6 feet, then the nuclear plant will no longer be able to pump its water, the IAEA said.

“It is not possible to predict exactly when this might happen. If the current rate were to continue, however, this level could be reached in the next couple of days,” it added.

More flooding likely triggered as dam deteriorates, British Defense Ministry says

The remaining structure of the Nova Kakhovka dam is “likely to deteriorate” and could cause further flooding, the British Defense Ministry said in an announcement today. 

“The water level in Kakhovka Reservoir was at a record high before the collapse, resulting in a particularly high volume of water inundating the area downstream,” the announcement reads.

It added that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is unlikely to face safety problems because the water level in the reservoir is decreasing.

Village of Korsunka completely underwater, Russian proxy mayor says

The village of Korsunka on the Russian-controlled shore of the Dnieper River is completely underwater after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, a Russian proxy mayor of the nearby town said.

Vladimir Leontiev, head of the administration of Nova Kakhovka, a town on the south side of the river, said today that the village is submerged due to the uncontrolled discharge of water from the dam, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.

Leontiev said other settlements along the shore, including Dnepryani, Krynky and Kozachi Laheri, are flooded up to the roofs of houses.

The city of Kherson is inundated

Aerial images released early today show major flooding through the city streets of Kherson, a day after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed.

Emergency services rescue people by boat from flooded Kherson

Ukrainian security forces rescue local residents by boat during an evacuation from the flooded parts of Kherson today.

Water will continue to rise for 20 hours, official says

Ukrainian officials said early today that the water from the dam will rise another 3 feet in the next 20 hours before starting to subside.

Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, said the “intensity” of the floodwaters had decreased but the water level was still rising.

As of 6 a.m. local time (11 p.m. yesterday ET), 1,852 buildings have been flooded on the right bank of the river, which is still controlled by Ukrainian forces, he said. And 1,467 people have been evacuated from the area.

“Everyone is working on helping people who found themselves in the areas of flooding,” Prokudin said.