Global Courant
A flooded neighborhood in Kherson is pictured on June 10. Inna Varenytsia/Reuters
At least 14 people have died and more than 2,700 have been evacuated from flooded areas in southern Ukraine following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Ukrainian officials reported Sunday.
Among the evacuees are 190 children, said Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s interior minister.
In the flooded areas of the Kherson region controlled by Ukraine, Klymenko said five people were killed and 35 people are missing, including seven children. He also said one person died in Mykolaiv region.
In the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, which lies upstream from the shattered dam, nearly 162,000 people were left without water, he added.
In the Russian-occupied flooded area, at least eight people have died in the town of Oleshky, Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the military administration of the Kherson region, told Ukrainian media on Sunday.
Prokudin accused the Russian-installed authorities of hindering the evacuation from the east bank of the river, “by setting up checkpoints and not letting people out”. He said only people who had switched to Russian passports were allowed through.
According to the Kherson regional military administration, shelling by Russian troops continues despite evacuation efforts.
“The enemy carried out 41 attacks in the past day, with 247 shells fired from mortars, artillery, Grad MLRS, UAVs and aircraft,” the government said in a Telegram message on Sunday.
Key context: Ukraine controls the west bank of the Dnipro River and the city of Kherson after last year’s counter-offensive, while Russian forces remain on the east bank in the greater Kherson region.
Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling during the attempt to evacuate civilians from areas they control.
Kiev and Moscow have also blamed each other for causing the rupture, though it’s unclear whether the dam was deliberately attacked or if the collapse was the result of a structural failure.
