Ukraine and the Russian occupation forces were evacuating civilians from flooded areas on Wednesday after the destruction the day before in Russian-controlled territory of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, raising fears of a humanitarian and ecological disaster.
Moscow and Kiev blame each other for the attack on this key dam, which supplies water to Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014 and is on the route of Ukrainian troops towards a reconquest of the occupied territories.
The city of Kherson, reconquered by the Ukrainians last November, 70 km from the dam, woke up again Wednesday morning with its feet in the water. A resident, Natalia Korj, 68, says she had to swim to leave her home.
“All my pieces are under water. My fridge floats, the freezer, everything. We are used to (artillery) fire, but a natural disaster is a real nightmare. I did not expect it, ”she laments to AFP, barefoot and cold hands after being rescued by local services.
She was only able to take a few things and some medicine with her, abandoning her two dogs and her cat. “I don’t know what happened to them,” she said.
Fear of many deaths
In the streets of the center, the evacuations continue. Here the water reaches waist level and very close to the Dnieper, a stone’s throw away, it even rose to five meters.
“Either the danger comes from there, or from here”, plague Svetlana Abramovich, 56, another resident, pointing to the front line in the distance where the Russian guns are located, then the water at her feet.
According to a spokesman for the Ukrainian emergency services, Oleksandre Khorounejiï, “more than 1,450 people have been evacuated” from the flooded areas under their control. On the Russian side, the authorities evacuated 1,274 people.
An unknown number of civilians left the flooded areas on their own.
A policeman met by AFP in Kherson, Serguiï, 38, assures him: “We have already saved 30 people today […] including a child. We will work until we have everyone out”.
The day before, Ukraine accused Moscow of having “exploded” the dam, a strategy which it said was intended to “curb” its troops. kyiv has for months accused Russia of mining this key infrastructure in southern Ukraine.
Moscow, on the other hand, accuses kyiv of “deliberate sabotage”.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said in a speech given online during an event at the OECD that Russia has caused “one of the worst environmental disasters of recent decades”.
Ukraine’s Western allies have deplored an attack endangering the lives of civilians in a region already scarred by the war launched by Russia on February 24, 2022.
The White House said it feared that the destruction of the dam would lead to “many deaths”, when the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, deplored “a new devastating consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.
A key partner of Russia, China on Wednesday expressed its “deep concern” about “the human, economic and ecological impact”.
Kherson region military administration chief Oleksandr Prokudin says ‘water will rise another meter in next 20 hours’ as authorities aim to evacuate ‘more than 17,000’ civilians , Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriï Kostin said on Tuesday.
“Massive environmental damage”
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian attack will “cause massive environmental damage”. More than 150 tons of motor oil have spilled into the river and thousands of hectares of arable land will be flooded, according to kyiv.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday it had already “recorded the loss of fish” in the area, also predicting water shortages for irrigating crops, as the Kakhovka reservoir is emptying.
“The world must react”, launched Mr. Zelensky, while the destruction of the dam built in the 1950s also raised new concerns for the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, located 150 km upstream and cooled by the retained water. by the dam.
There is “no immediate nuclear danger”, however reassured the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The plant is also located in an area occupied by the Russians.
If the Russian defensive lines along the Dnieper will be overwhelmed, it is above all a potential Ukrainian military operation in this region that risks being hampered, while a major offensive is being prepared to repel the Russians.
In recent days, Ukrainian forces have carried out assaults in several areas of the front, even claiming to have gained ground near Bakhmout.
Russia, for its part, says it is repelling major attacks.