Sixty-five hectares of the Snihurivka forestry in the southern Mykolaiv Oblast – an area roughly the size of 93 soccer fields – remain flooded after Russia's June 6 destruction of the Kakhovka dam, the local branch of a state forestry enterprise said on June 18.
In a Facebook post, Forests of Ukraine's southern office said that nearly 2,300 hectares of forest in the southern Mykolaiv Oblast suffered from Russia's flood. It added that 2,200 hectares of the region's flooded forests are on the Russian-occupied Kinburn Spit, a 40-kilometer long and up to 12-kilometer-wide part of the Kinburn peninsula.
Nearly two weeks after Russia blew up the giant Kakhovka dam, occupied by Russian forces since the early days of the full-scale war, affected areas still suffer from varying degrees of consequences.
The water level at the Inhulets River in the western part of Kherson Oblast is still two meters higher than its pre-flood level, according to Forests of Ukraine.
The Interior Ministry said on June 17 that at least 16 people are confirmed dead, and 31 are missing due to the flooding. Of the known victims, 14 were killed in Kherson Oblast, and two in Mykolaiv Oblast, according to the ministry.
Some 1,300 houses remain flooded as of June 17, the ministry said, with the majority of them in Kherson Oblast.
Russia's blow-up of the major dam in southern Ukraine spurred serious economic, ecological, and nuclear consequences besides immediate rescue efforts.
Francis Farrell
