Streets transformed into rivers where swans swim, floating houses carried away by the current, flooded dwellings… These images and videos have multiplied since the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, in the Kherson region, early in the morning Tuesday, June 6. According to the Ukrainian authorities, the water level has risen by 3.5 meters, more than 17,000 people have been evacuated and 24 villages are under water.
In shock, dozens of residents of this region of southern Ukraine, occupied by Russia, testify to the damage of this disaster. In this video shot in the administrative center of the city of Nova Kakhovka, where the dam is located, swans swim in the forecourt of the Palace of Culture.
Same observation in Solontsi, in the oblast of Kherson, where the city became “part of the Dnieper river”, thirty-six hours after the rupture of the dam, reports an OSINT analyst (open source) on Twitter. To circulate in the streets of the city, it is now necessary to be equipped with a boat or a boat.
An explosion is the cause of a large opening of the dam of the hydroelectric power station, one of the most important energy installations in the country, located on the outskirts of the city of Nova Kakhovka. The plant held back 18 billion cubic meters of water, much of which still spills over entire villages. Shortly after the detonation, a wave of several meters gradually destroyed what was in its path until it reached the Dnieper delta and then the Black Sea.
Among the victims of this disaster, civilians were for the most part surprised by this wave. On its Twitter account, the Ukrainian Red Cross quickly posted a video. It illustrates a rescue team evacuating residents trapped in their flooded house. “80 localities are threatened with flooding. 800 people have already been evacuated, including 66 with reduced mobility,” the humanitarian association wrote on Tuesday, June 6.
This Wednesday, June 7, the police are also evacuating elderly and vulnerable people who cannot move, using inflatable boats. This is particularly the case in the city of Kherson, largely under water.
Several individuals were also photographed walking the streets in swimsuits or underwear.
On Twitter, residents massively shared videos of animals in distress, trapped under water. The zoo in the city of Nova Kakhovka, for example, was completely flooded. Many animals drowned.
On other images, we can see dead animals floating in the middle of petroleum products, suggesting serious environmental consequences.
Other videos show Ukrainians rescuing drowning dogs exhausted from struggling to survive.
President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to these rescuers. He took the opportunity to denounce the “inhumanity” of this disaster, which he blames on the Russian camp: “While the Russian evil terrorizes and destroys all living beings, we are doing and will continue to do everything to save every living creature! »
Wild animals were also seen in the streets, as if nature was reclaiming its rights over the city. Beavers, for example, were filmed in Kherson. The video has been viewed over 1.8 million times on Twitter.