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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talks with residents who were evacuated after the Kakhovka dam burst. Photo/Al Jazeera
KIEV – President Ukraine , Volodymyr Zelensky visited the flood-hit southern region of Kherson and discussed the situation after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed on Tuesday.
“Many important things were discussed. Operational situation in disaster-affected areas, evacuation of residents from potential flood zones, elimination of emergencies due to dam explosions, organization of life support in flood areas,” he said on his Telegram channel.
“Also, the prospects for the restoration of the region’s ecosystem and the operational situation of the military in man-made disaster areas,” he added as quoted by Al Jazeera, Thursday (8/6/2023).
Zelensky also said it was important to allocate funds to compensate residents in flood-affected areas.
Meanwhile the Kremlin-appointed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, said on Russian state television that five of the seven local residents who were declared missing after the dam collapsed had died.
“The remaining two people have been found, and efforts are being made to evacuate them,” Leontyev added.
Since the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, at least 4,000 people have been evacuated from the Russian and Ukrainian sides of the Dnipro river.
The extent of the ecological and human impact of the destroyed dam has yet to be determined.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Ukraine blamed each other for last Tuesday’s destruction of a Russian-occupied dam.
(ian)
