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About 42,000 people are at risk from flooding on both sides of the Dnipro River after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Ukrainian officials have said, with floodwaters expected to peak on Wednesday.
The prediction came after UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the security council on Tuesday night that the dam breach “will have grave and far-reaching consequences for thousands of people in southern Ukraine on both sides of the front line through the loss of homes, food, safe water and livelihoods”.
“The sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realised in the coming days,” he said.
One day after the dam disaster, the Ukrainian governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, accused Russia of shelling the area, killing one and injuring another. Prokudin did not provide further details and the claim has not been independently verified.
Relief workers on the Ukraine-controlled right bank of the river have reported having to work under fire. “The biggest difficulty right now is not the water. It’s the Russians on the other side of the river who are shelling us now with artillery,” said Andrew Negrych, who was coordinating relief efforts for a US charity, Global Empowerment Mission, on Tuesday.
In Kherson on Tuesday evening, Reuters reporters heard four incoming artillery blasts near a residential neighbourhood where civilians were evacuating.
At least seven people are missing after dam blast, Tass, Russia’s state news agency cited the Moscow-installed mayor of the city of Nova Kakhovka as saying on Wednesday.
No flood-related deaths have been reported, but US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the flooding had probably caused “many deaths”.
Satellite images taken on Tuesday afternoon by Maxar Technologies showed houses and other buildings submerged, many with only their roofs showing. Maxar said the images of more than 2,500 square km (965 square miles) between Nova Kakhovka and the Dniprovska Gulf, south-west of Kherson city on the Black Sea, showed numerous towns and villages flooded.
About 80 communities are believed to be threatened by flooding, with buses, trains and private vehicles have been marshalled to carry people to safety.
Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the collapse of the dam in Kherson region, with Ukraine’s UN envoy accusing his Russian counter part of floundering in a “mud of lies” during an emergency meeting of the UN security council on Tuesday night.
Ukraine said Russia committed a deliberate war crime in blowing up the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam, which powered a hydroelectric station. The Kremlin blamed Ukraine, saying it was trying to distract from the launch of a major counteroffensive Moscow says is faltering.
Washington said it was uncertain who was responsible, but the deputy US ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, told reporters it would not make sense for Ukraine to destroy the dam and harm its own people.
In Kherson city, about 60km (37 miles) downstream from the dam, water levels rose by 3.5 metres (11-1/2 feet) on Tuesday, and by mid afternoon were still rising by 6cm to 8cm every half hour in low-lying areas, according to hydrologist Larysa Musian, who was taking depth measurements on a Kherson street corner.
“Everything is submerged in water, all the furniture, the fridge, food, all flowers, everything is floating. I do not know what to do,” said resident Oskana, 53, said when asked about her house.
Residents were forced to slog through water up to their knees to evacuate, carrying plastic bags full of possessions and small pets in carriers.
Residents in flooded Nova Kakhovka on the Russian-controlled bank of the Dnipro told Reuters that some had decided to stay despite being ordered out. “They say they are ready to shoot without warning,” said one man, Hlib, describing encounters with Russian troops.
“More and more water is coming every hour. It’s very dirty,” Yevheniya, a woman in Nova Kakhovka , told Reuters by telephone.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has declared the destruction of the dam an “environmental bomb of mass destruction” and said only liberating the entire country could guarantee against new “terrorist” acts.
Zelenskiy said he had spoken to Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog the IAEA about the consequences of the dam breach for the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which uses reservoir water for its cooling systems, and that Grossi had agreed on a visit to Ukraine. The IAEA said the Zaporizhzhia plant should have enough water to cool its reactors for “some months” from a separate pond.
As Kyiv prepares for its long-awaited counteroffensive, some military analysts said the flooding could benefit Russia by slowing or limiting any Ukrainian advance along that part of the front line.
Separately, in a boost for Ukraine’s military, Zelenskiy said he had received “a serious, powerful” offer from countries ready to provide F-16 fighter jets.
“Our partners know how many aircraft we need,” Zelenskiy was quoted as saying in a statement on his website. “I have already received an understanding of the number from some of our European partners … It is a serious, powerful offer.”
Kyiv now awaited a final agreement with its allies, including “a joint agreement with the United States,” Zelenskiy said.
It is not clear which of Ukraine’s allies are ready to provide it with the jets.
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