The rescue operation after the Kakhovka dam burst is risky because the dam is on the front line between Ukrainian and Russian troops. And time is pressing – not only for those who are cut off from supplies.
Dozens of helpers, soldiers and police officers have gathered in Cherson. With inflatable boats, they keep bringing people to non-flooded areas of the southern Ukrainian city. An old couple is sitting in one of the boats. Pensioners Vitja have to carry rescuers out of the boat.
The old man can hardly move himself because of a serious leg injury. He lives with his wife Nadja on one of the islands in the Dnipro River. Everything is flooded there, reports Nadja, “everything is flowing, everything is ruined over there”.
Out of fear, the couple made their way towards Ukrainian-controlled territory, explains Nadja. Her dacha on Potemkin Island and much of what she has “hard-earned” is in the middle of the Dnipro River, in the gray zone, as they say here, between Russian and Ukrainian troops.
Nadja and Vitja didn’t want to flee to Russian-controlled territory – the Russian soldiers would shoot without warning, says Nadja. Every day they would have fired from a nearby jetty from Kherson.
Escape to friends and relatives
Nadja and Vitja still have an empty apartment in Cherson, they want to go there now. And like her, many do it. The authorities in the region are trying to provide emergency shelters, but so far only a few people have apparently taken advantage of them.
Because most of them first stay with friends or relatives. Thousands of people are still dependent on help, according to Ukrainian authorities. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, who is in Kherson to get an idea of the situation, reports that many people initially thought that the water would not come. But just half an hour later it had risen so much in the whole area that people had to save themselves on their balconies or roofs. From there they would now be taken to safety.
The animals must also be saved
The willingness to help in southern Ukraine is great. Volunteers have traveled to the region from Odessa, Kiev, Mykolayiv and other cities to lend a hand. But not only people have to be rescued from the floods, thousands of animals are also trying to get the helpers from the flooded areas to safety.
Serhiy Schowner stands in the blazing sun in front of a small minibus and wipes the sweat from his forehead. He and his fellow campaigners have been able to save 17 kittens, six cats and three dogs in the past few hours. The helpers stack the animals in cages on the loading area of the minibus to take them to Dnipro.
When the water in the houses is up to the roof, he says, and people have to save themselves, they often don’t have the opportunity to take care of their animals, so they take the animals with them.
The rescue operations should continue as long as the security situation allows. According to Interior Minister Klymenko, people no longer drive out in the dark of night. The danger is too great – also from mines floating in the water. And again and again, artillery explosions can be heard during the day.