Three people have died after the collapse of the Nova Khakovka dam over the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, The Guardian reported citing local media. “Three people drowned” in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, the Kyiv Independent reported citing the exiled mayor of Oleshky, Yevhen Ryshchuk. In an address on Wednesday evening, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was impossible to predict how many people would die in Kherson due to the flooding caused by the destruction. He urged a “clear and rapid reaction from the world” to support victims.
Zelensky criticised the United Nations and the Red Cross who he said were not helping in the relief effort. “Our military and special services are rescuing people as much as it is possible, despite the shelling. But large-scale efforts are needed,” Zelensky said, as quoted by The Guardian. “We need international organisations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, to immediately join the rescue operation and help people in the occupied part of Kherson region,” he added.
During his address, Zelensky also stated, “If an international organisation is not present in the disaster zone, it means it does not exist at all or is incapable”. Several hours after the disaster, Ukraine's President told the Bild, Die Welt and Politico news outlets, “they aren’t here”. “We have had no response. I am shocked.” Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal also sought assistance from international humanitarian organisations.
“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,” Shmyhal said, as quoted by The Guardian. The UN’s humanitarian affairs office stated that a team was coordinating relief efforts in Kherson. It said that around 12,000 bottles of water and 10,000 purification tablets were distributed to tackle the concern of access to drinking water, The Guardian reported.
Ukrainian troops witnessed Russian soldiers being swept up in flood waters after the collapse of the dam, said a Ukrainian armed forces official. The official said that many Russian troops were killed or wounded in the chaos. “No one on the Russian side was able to get away,” said Captain Andrei Pidlisnyi told CNN. “All the regiments the Russians had on that side were flooded,” he said after the dam collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
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