KHERSON, Ukraine—Ukrainians fled their flooded houses on Wednesday as floodwaters rose throughout the south of the country following the collapse of a large hydroelectric dam on the border between Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, with the presidents of both countries hurling accusations of responsibility for the catastrophe.
While rescuers searched locations where the floods rose beyond head height, locals trudged through flooded streets carrying toddlers on their shoulders, pets in their arms, and valuables in plastic bags.
According to Ukraine, the flood would leave hundreds of thousands of people without access to clean drinking water, inundate tens of thousands of hectares of farmland, and transform at least 500,000 hectares of land that lacks irrigation into "deserts."
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, stated in a video message that it was hard to foresee how many people might die as a result of the floods in Russian-occupied territories. He urged a "clear and rapid reaction from the world" to help victims.
“The situation in occupied parts of the Kherson region is absolutely catastrophic. The occupiers are simply abandoning people in frightful conditions. No help, without water, left on the roofs of houses in submerged communities,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, who was in Kherson, a city downstream from the dam, claimed that the calamity had damaged over 80 communities and that the floods had spilled chemicals and pathogenic bacteria into the water.
The fall of the Nova Kakhovka dam on Tuesday occurred as Ukraine was preparing a significant counteroffensive against Russia's invasion, which is most likely the war's next significant stage. Both sides warned of drifting landmines uncovered by the water and swapped blame for the ongoing firing throughout the populous flood zone.
Since Russia announced the beginning of the Ukrainian counteroffensive earlier this week, Kyiv said on Wednesday that its soldiers in the east had pushed more than a kilometer around the destroyed city of Bakhmut. Russia claimed to have repulsed the attack.
Attacks are currently localized, according to Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's national security council, and the full-scale onslaught has not yet started.
“When we start [it], everyone will know about it, they will see it,” he told Reuters.
The dam was mined, according to Kiev, some months ago by Russian forces who took it early in their 15-month invasion. Moscow, according to Kyiv, blew it up to try to stop Ukrainian forces from crossing the Dnipro in their counteroffensive.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, charged Ukraine of demolishing the dam on the advice of Western backers, calling it a "barbaric" war crime that widened the confrontation with Moscow. According to a Kremlin readout, Putin called the situation a "environmental and humanitarian catastrophe".
Neither side has made public proof of who was at fault available.
In the Kherson region that it governs, where numerous towns and villages are located in vulnerable lowlands under the dam, Russia proclaimed a state of emergency.
Brown water flooded the major streets of Nova Kakhovka, a town next to the dam that was mostly deserted by people.
According to Vladimir Leontyev, the Russian-installed mayor, over 30,000 cubic meters of water were rushing out of the dam's reservoir per second and the town was at risk of pollution from the torrent, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
Zelenskiy claimed he was "shocked" by the alleged absence of the United Nations. and Red Cross assistance provided to catastrophe victims thus far.
A short while afterwards, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that "within the next few hours we will send aid to meet immediate needs."
A delegation from the U.N.'s office of humanitarian affairs was reportedly in Kherson to organize relief operations. Water access was a serious issue, and thus far, 12,000 water bottles and 10,000 purification pills had been supplied.
Oleksiy Kuleba, the presidential deputy chief, stated that Ukraine anticipates the floodwaters to cease rising by the end of Wednesday after rising to almost five meters (16.5 feet) over night.
The waters had reached their greatest level in 17 communities with a total population of 16,000 people, and 2000 people had been evacuated from the portion of the flood zone that is under Ukrainian administration.
