Around 16,000 people's homes in Kherson Oblast are located in critical risk zones for flooding after Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on June 6.
Speaking on national television, Prokudin said that the residents of affected settlements are being evacuated by buses to Kherson, then further to Mykolaiv, Khmelnytsky, Odesa, Kropyvnytskyi, Kyiv, and other cities.
An evacuation train is also scheduled to depart from Kherson at 12:00 p.m. local time.
As of 7:30 a.m. local time, the settlements of Tiahynka, Lvove, Odradokamianka, Ivanivka, Mykilske, Poniativka, Tokarivka, Bilozerka, and the Ostriv district in Kherson were "fully or partially flooded," according to Prokudin.
"We understand that other settlements will also be affected by flooding, and we are prepared for it," he said.
Prokudin urged people to only follow information from official sources and to remain calm.
Ukraine's Southern Operational Command reported early on June 6 that Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.
President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote at 8:21 a.m. local time that he had called an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
"The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that Russian forces must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land," the president said.
"Not a single meter should be left to them, because they use every meter for terror. It’s only Ukraine's victory that will return security," Zelensky added.
Olena Goncharova
(Updated: )
