Ukrainians make desperate escape from floods after dam collapse as shelling echoes overhead

As the echoes of shelling reverberated overhead due to Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine, numerous evacuees on an island in the Dnieper River were forced to hastily climb onto military trucks or seek refuge on rafts to escape the rapidly rising floodwaters resulting from a breached dam upstream.

The atmosphere was further dampened by the distressing barks of dogs left behind. On one of the rafts, a distraught mother tightly held her despondent daughter. The panic escalated when a military truck became stuck in the swelling waters, causing Red Cross teams to struggle with maintaining an orderly evacuation.

Amidst the chaos, no one knew the extent to which the waters gushing through the gaping hole in the Kakhovka dam would rise or if people and animals would survive.

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The frantic evacuation efforts via boats and military trucks from a neighborhood on the island, located near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, testified to the ongoing human suffering caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities accused Russian forces of deliberately destroying the dam, while Russian authorities blamed recent Ukrainian military strikes for the collapse.

“The Russians have attacked the dam without considering the consequences,” said Oleksandr Sokeryn, who fled his flooded house with his family. “They should not be forgiven.”

Both sides’ officials claimed that the breach of the massive dam had not caused any civilian casualties, and the rushed evacuation aimed to maintain that record.

The island neighborhood was one of the residential areas directly in the path of Tuesday’s catastrophe, which experts predicted would unfold over the coming days as pent-up waters from the Kakhovka reservoir flowed unhindered toward the Black Sea.

The true toll and extent of the damage may take several days to ascertain.

In the early morning, prior to the arrival of the floodwaters, many residents attempted to withstand the situation. However, as the water levels rose in the streets, nearly reaching the tops of bus stops or the second floors of buildings, national guard teams and emergency crews mobilized to rescue stranded individuals.

Some residents found themselves floating beneath the rafters of their homes as the waters continued to rise. With limited space on the trucks, an attempt to tow two rafts together went awry when the ropes snapped. In a desperate act, a man tossed his German shepherd from the roof of the stalled truck onto another vehicle. Meanwhile, some residents clung to each other to avoid being swept away by the rising tide.

Officials reported that approximately 22,000 people reside in flood-prone areas controlled by Russia on the eastern side of the river, while 16,000 people live in the most critical zone on the western side, held by Ukraine. These areas were similar to the ones evacuated on Tuesday.

The United Nations stated that at least 16,000 people had already lost their homes, and efforts were underway to provide affected individuals with clean water, financial assistance, and legal and emotional support. Evacuations on the Ukrainian-controlled side of the river were transporting people to cities such as Mykolaiv and Odesa in the west.

Amnesty International’s regional director for Eastern Europe, Marie Struthers, emphasized, “While towns and villages downstream of the Dnieper River succumb to the floodwaters, the destruction of the Kakhovka dam has resulted in a significant humanitarian disaster. The international community must come together to hold those responsible accountable for their actions.”

She added, “International humanitarian law explicitly safeguards dams due to the risks their destruction poses to civilians.”

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric warned that the flooding caused by the dam breach would have severe and long-lasting consequences on the humanitarian situation in the area, including the displacement of landmines and explosive ordnance to new areas.

Kherson, which was liberated by Ukrainian forces the previous fall, has already endured some of the worst atrocities during Russia’s blitzkrieg campaign against Ukraine, including alleged cases of rape, arbitrary killings, and enforced disappearances throughout months of Russian occupation.

Today, the shelling continues regularly from the opposing front line located across the river.

Contributions to this report were made by AP writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Jamey Keaten in Kyiv, Ukraine.

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