600 square kilometers of Kherson region under water. President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the flooded areas

About 600 square kilometers of the Kherson region was under water after the destruction of the dam in Nova Kakhovka, the head of the local government, Oleksandr Prokudin, said. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Kherson. The Red Cross warned that anti-personnel mines, which pose a serious threat to civilians, have been swept away by the water. Meanwhile, in the occupied territories, the Russians prohibited evacuation.

Produkin reported that almost 70 percent of the flooded territory is located on the left bank of the Dnieper, in an area occupied by the Russians, who are supposed to prohibit the evacuation of civilians.

The Ukrainians have been carrying out a rescue operation on their side from the very beginning.

The “average flood level” in the Kherson region on Thursday morning was 5.61 meters. “We are already working. We will help everyone who is in trouble” Prokudin assured in a statement.

“Despite the great danger and constant Russian shelling, the evacuation from the flood zones continues” he stressed.

By Thursday morning, about 2,000 people had been evacuated from the flooded areas.

Zelensky in Kherson

On Thursday, Kherson was visited by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who held a meeting on liquidation of the consequences of the disaster and evacuation of the population from the flooded areas.

"Many important problems: the operational situation in the (Kherson) region, which occurred as a result of the disaster, the evacuation of the population from potential flooding zones, the liquidation of the emergency situation (…) the organization of life in the flooded territories," Zelensky wrote in Telegram.

On Twitter, he posted a video showing the destruction caused by the water. He also thanked all those who are involved in helping the victims.

“Russia must be held accountable for everything it does against life” he appealed to the world.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1666726509464174592

Mines swept by the water

The Red Cross points to another threat caused by flooding. The water takes with it anti-personnel mines that were already located and planned to be removed before the dam breached.

Now deadly cargoes drift to other areas.

The organization's representative, Erik Tollefsen, said that at the moment the mines may be somewhere downstream. He added that local authorities and services have devoted many months to locate the cargoes that threaten people, and now it turned out that all their work was in vain.

“Now it's all washed away” he said.

Russian evacuation ban

In Wednesday's speech, Zelensky noted that it was impossible to estimate how many civilians would die due to flooding on the “Russian side” of the Kherson region.

On Thursday morning, in an interview with the Polish Press Agency, the representative of the Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR), Andriy Yusov, said that “Russia's occupying forces are not taking any action to save people from the territories they have occupied on the eastern bank of the Dnieper.”

“Ukrainian military, rescue services and police are doing everything to save people, families, children and animals. The Russians have denied that evacuations are needed and assured that everything is fine. Today, having no means or resources to organize evacuations, they close people's mouths and do not allow them to leave flooded or flooded areas" – he stressed.

Earlier, there was information that the occupation authorities did not allow evacuation “under the threat of shooting”.

Breaking the dam in Nova Kakhovka

On the night from Monday to Tuesday, the dam of the hydroelectric power plant in Nova Kakhovka was blown up. Dozens of towns, including the city of Kherson, are in the flood zone. The Ukrainian authorities immediately announced an urgent evacuation of the civilian population.