General Staff: Russian soldiers confiscate humanitarian aid in flooded Oleshky

Russian troops are confiscating humanitarian aid intended for the flooded city of Oleshky in the occupied part of Kherson Oblast, the spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Andrii Kovalov, said on TV, as reported by Ukrinform on June 20.

"The situation on the left bank is catastrophic. The Russian occupiers are robbing the Ukrainian population in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine...For example, at the checkpoints at Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, when inspecting the vehicles, the occupiers confiscate humanitarian aid intended for the affected population," Kovalov said.

The city of Oleshky, occupied by Russia since February 2022, was likely completely flooded during the Dnipro River flooding after the Kakhovka dam breach on June 6.

Rather than evacuating the population, the occupiers have prevented the locals from leaving, allowing passage only to those with Russian passports.

According to the National Resistance Center, over 500 Oleshky residents died in the floods because they were not evacuated.

The United Nations (UN) agreed with Ukraine that it would provide humanitarian aid and facilitate evacuations from the occupied left bank. However, the UN informed on June 18 that Russia continues to block access to the affected areas.

Local volunteers continue to work to provide food and drinking water to the people in the occupied settlements.

The Kakhovka dam breach collapse on June 6 triggered a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster, including massive floods in Ukraine's south. The Ukrainian military said that Russian forces destroyed the dam to hinder Kyiv's counteroffensive.

In the past few days, the water has been receding from the flooded areas.

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The Kyiv IndependentDaria Shulzhenko