Following the Kakhovka dam breach, 600 square kilometers of Ukraine's Kherson Oblast have been flooded, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on June 8.
According to Prokudin, 68% of the flooded land is on the Russian-occupied east bank of the Dnipro River, and 32% is on the Ukrainian-controlled west bank.
As of the June 8 morning, the average water level in Kherson Oblast has reached 5.61 meters, the official reported.
Despite constant Russian shelling of the west bank, evacuation efforts are ongoing, with 1999 civilians having been rescued so far, said Prokudin. Most people were evacuated from Kherson's Korabel district, also known as Ostriv (Island), which has been among the most flooded areas.
Igor Kossov
Twenty settlements on the west bank were flooded, and 2629 homes were affected, Kherson Oblast Military Administration reported on the same day.
Due to the flooding, 159 transformer substations in the region were disconnected, the gas supply to 14,716 consumers was interrupted, and all Kherson's Ostriv district residents were left without water supply, according to the regional administration.
The governor added that the situation was "extremely difficult" on the Russian-occupied east bank, where Moscow-installed illegal government apparently failed to organize a proper evacuation, as residents say.
"People suffer not only from high water but also from Russian terror and the unwillingness of the occupiers to help them."
Russia destroyed the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant's dam on the Dnipro River on June 6, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.
Daria Shulzhenko
