8 people died in floods in Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the people affected by the floods caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine, two days after it was destroyed, which led to the flow of water to more than 600 square kilometers of land, and said that Kiev would help them rebuild.

“We will help you and rebuild everything that needs reconstruction,” Zelensky said, on Thursday, after visiting the affected areas in Mykolaiv and Kherson, where thousands of people have been transferred to a safe place.

Zelensky’s delegation complained that even during the ongoing evacuations, Russian forces were firing from the occupied part of the Kherson region. Ukrainian television reported that a man on a rescue boat was seriously wounded in the head by the shelling.

But Zelensky said relief measures would be greatly expanded regardless. In Snyurivka, Mykolaiv region, a crisis team will be formed to work around the clock to combat the repercussions of the floods.

“It is important to calculate the damage and provide funds to compensate the citizens affected by the disaster,” the Ukrainian president added.

He added that there is also a need for a program to compensate companies and relocate them to another place in the Kherson region. According to the military administration of the region, many people want to stay in the besieged province despite the flood disaster.

The supply of drinking water was cut off for some residents of the region due to the destruction of the dam. Ukraine’s presidential office said water is now being delivered to some cities by rail and road. Work is underway to build new water pipelines and wells in the area.

“We have solutions, resources and financing,” Zelensky said in his evening address. We will do our best to provide people with drinking water despite this disaster.”

For his part, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin in Moscow, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had no plans to visit the Russian-controlled parts of the flood zone.

Peskov said that the Ukrainian side is hindering the Russian evacuation efforts by continuing to fire from the right bank of the Dnipro River. This could not be independently verified.

Earlier, Kiev made similar accusations against the Russians, who occupied large parts of the Kherson region during the war that Russia started more than 15 months ago.

At the same time, the United Nations is seeking access to the flooded areas under Russian occupation, but the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is not yet in a position to confirm the United Nations operation in the area, said a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Affairs. Humanity forgets to leave it. WHO emergency relief coordinator Mike Ryan said in Geneva that the WHO is also trying to reach out. He added that this would only be possible through agreements with the two sides of the conflict.

The Ukrainian military and American experts estimate that the Russian forces suffered losses due to the destruction of the dam. The Ukrainian General Staff said, in Kiev on Thursday, that the occupation forces were not ready for the event and lost soldiers, military equipment and technology.

Experts from the American Institute for the Study of War said the floods destroyed Russian defensive positions on the front line.

The Russian research group CIT, which is close to the opposition, believes that “criminal negligence on the part of the occupation forces” caused the dam’s destruction.