Interior Minister: 10 dead, 42 missing due to Kakhovka dam disaster
As a result of the flooding caused by Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam, ten people died, and 42 are considered missing, including seven children, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported on June 12. Eight people died in Kherson Oblast and two in Mykolaiv Oblast.
The number of casualties on the Russian-occupied east bank of the Dnipro River is yet to be confirmed, Klymenko said on national television.
The water level continues to fall in Kherson Oblast, dropping to 3.12 meters as of 12:30 p.m. local time, the regional administration wrote, adding that 3801 homes on the west bank are still flooded.
According to the Interior Ministry, 2743 residents of Kherson Oblast have been evacuated, including 205 children and 76 people with reduced mobility.
Anastasiia LapatinaIn Mykolaiv Oblast, 31 settlements have been flooded, from which 982 people, including 167 children, have been rescued, the ministry wrote on Telegram.
Meanwhile, the Ecology Ministry reported that 72% or 14,395 cubic km of water had been spilled from the Kakhovka Reservoir, an important water source for Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and southern Ukraine. As of the June 11 evening, the reservoir’s water level in the Nikopol area reached about nine meters and continues to drop.
As a result, almost 165,000 households in 32 settlements of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast have no water supply, according to the Interior Ministry’s latest update. Ukrainian authorities are delivering the water to the affected settlements and searching for other supply options.
Russian forces destroyed the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant’s dam on June 6, sparking a humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.
Francis Farrell
