Kiev (EFE) .
In his address to the nation last night, Zelenski assured: “the evacuation continues. Under fire! The Russian artillery continues to fire, no matter what. Wild”
The Ukrainian president, who again described the destruction of the dam and the New Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant as a Russian “terrorist act”, also stated that the situation in the occupied part of the Kherson province is “absolutely catastrophic.”
According to Zelenski, the authorities imposed by Russia in the region have abandoned people to their fate “without water” and “on the roofs of flooded towns” for which they have appealed to the international community.
We need international organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to immediately join the rescue operation and help people in the occupied part of the Kherson region,” he stressed.
Although there are still no casualty figures, in the occupied town of Oleshki, almost completely flooded, the Ukrainian authorities assured that at least one person has died.
“We already have one person who died. Two more have been taken to hospital. I think there will be many more,” the Ukrainian mayor told the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine.
More than 2,000 evacuees and 600 square kilometers under water
The Kherson province is divided in two by the Dnieper River. The western bank is controlled by the kyiv government and the eastern one, where the destroyed dam and power plant were located. occupied by Russia.
In the Ukrainian areas, the rescue services have already evacuated more than 2,000 people.
The overflow after the rupture of the reservoir has submerged about 600 square kilometers under water, as announced today by the Ukrainian Military Administration of the area.
Of that area, 32% is on the western bank of the Dnieper, under kyiv’s control. The remaining 68% is located on the eastern bank, occupied by Russia.
In addition, the head of that administration has also explained that the water level in the part of the Dnieper river that is south of the dam still reaches 5.61 meters.
Russia starts pumping water after floods
For its part, Russia will begin today to pump water from New Kakhovka after the floods caused by the collapse of the dam, as reported by the mayor of the city, Vladimir Leontiev.
“Today we are starting to pump water, we have received additional generators, motor pumps, so we are going to go through the restoration process,” he told the local media in New Kajovka, in statements collected by the official TASS agency.
The councilor has also specified that the water level continues to drop and has already decreased by 1.2 meters.
“The water continues to drop, not as fast as we would like, but, for example, the retreat is already twenty meters, perhaps more (…),” he said.
The floods have forced the evacuation of more than 4,000 citizens from the left bank of the Dnieper River, occupied by Russian troops, as confirmed by the interim Russian-imposed governor in Jershon.
However, the Russian authorities have not yet reported the number of deaths in the disaster, although the day before they estimated the number of missing people at least seven.