Editor's Note: The article originally stated that 1,000 people had been rescued as of 1:00 p.m. local time. It has been updated to accurately reflect the latest information provided by authorities.
The State Emergency Service reported that nearly 1,300 people have been evacuated from Kherson Oblast as of 3 p.m. local time after Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka dam on June 6.
Evacuation efforts are being carried out by the State Emergency Service in coordination with the police and local authorities.
According to preliminary information, 13 regional settlements on the Kyiv-controlled right bank of the Dnipro River and more than 260 houses have been flooded, the emergency service wrote.
Five temporary relief centers have been set up for evacuees in Kherson Oblast before being relocated to safer locations, according to the Interior Ministry.
Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin earlier said that civilians will be transported by bus and train to Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi, Odesa, Kropyvnytskyi, Kyiv, and other cities.
Water levels are expected to continue rising for another 24 hours, so authorities will be working "around the clock" to aid civilians, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on national television.
The State Emergency Service has also issued a warning to civilians, urging them to remain vigilant and be on the lookout for any mines that may have been dislodged by the flooding.
Russian forces destroyed the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant’s dam in the early hours of June 6, sparking a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine.
Olena Goncharova
(Updated: )
