In search of civilians trapped in the floods after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, Ukrainian relief workers ventured on their tires to the left bank of the Dnieper river, in territory occupied by Moscow and despite the surrounding bombardments.
"We continue to save people. And that includes people who are in occupied areas," Sergei Sergeyev simply explained to AFP.
"We know that there are Russian soldiers perched on rooftops, and no one is coming to save them," he says, without providing any proof. "But the priority is our people."
The Dnieper River has acted for several months as a natural front line between the Ukrainian forces, located on its right bank, and the troops of Moscow opposite, which occupies part of the Kherson region.
Retaken from Russian hands after a successful counter-offensive last November, the city of Kherson, located along the river, remains the target of regular Russian bombardments from the other bank.
In the middle: a large number of bits of land, more or less large islands, which constitute a gray zone of this front line very different from that made of trenches and lines of fixed defenses around Bakhmout, in Donbass.
The situation has been complicated since Tuesday and the destruction 70 km upstream of the Kakhovka dam.
Kiev and Moscow blame each other for the attack, but the consequences are already devastating for the surrounding areas: many villages have been flooded, thousands of civilians hastily evacuated and the authorities also fear an ecological disaster.
According to Mr Sergeyev, "evacuations (in Kherson) take time given the shooting", which continues despite the situation.
In the city, the water reached a level of 5.6 meters, according to authorities' estimates, and more than 600 km2 were flooded, the area of the city of Madrid.
Six people have died in the floods so far, according to Ukrainian and Russian occupation authorities, and an unknown number of people have fled the rising waters on their own, often with very little arm.
"(The water) goes up to the second floor of the buildings, you can only survive by putting yourself on the roof", testifies an employee of the local meteorological agency, Laura Moussiïane.
Ms. Moussiïane, water up to her waist, however, believes that her rise seems to have slowed down.
"If this trend continues, it will be good news for the inhabitants," she told AFP.
At an evacuation point, conversations heat up trying to find out when the water will stop rising and threatening the inhabitants of the city.
According to local officials, it will still take at least three days before this happens, a period during which the water can still cause significant property damage.
In the meantime, some residents hope to catch a glimpse of their pet in the arms of rescuers who are going back and forth on their small inflatable boats.
"My cat has been in my apartment for three days without food. She must be starving," laments Eléna, a 59-year-old woman in tears.
Another resident, Tatiana Olmetchenko, 65, said she had to climb out of a broken window to reach the rescue boat after two days of waiting.
Feet on the ground, she asks volunteers to check her blood pressure and feed her cat, Klioucha.
"My apartment in Kherson was destroyed last year by a bombing," Tatiana told AFP.
"I moved into a new apartment, and there it is flooded," she laments. "How can we go on living?"
06/08/2023 15:30:57 - Kherson (Ukraine) (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
