Undermining Kakhovskaya HPP

It happened on the night of June 6. Ukrhydroenergo reported that the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station is not subject to restoration. The explosion led to the flooding of territories in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. Because of this, several million tons of the Ukrainian harvest may be lost, and the fields in the south of Ukraine may turn into deserts as early as 2024.

A subversive group of Russians is behind this. The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, emphasized that the dam was not bombed, but destroyed with explosives on the territory under Russian control. The Norwegian company NORSAR analyzed the seismic activity and confirmed that the dam was destroyed by the explosion. American intelligence satellites also recorded the explosion.

According to official data, 10 people died in the Kherson region and two more in the Mykolaiv region as a result of the hydroelectric power plant explosion. 42 people are considered missing. Information is also being received about the dead on the occupied left bank: doctors reported 8 dead only in Oleshkivska hromada.

Ukraine is evacuating civilians from the flooded area. As of the evening of June 11, more than 3,700 people were deported from Kherson region and Mykolaiv region. As of the morning of June 13, it is known that 2,757 people were evacuated from Kherson Oblast alone. Also, under shelling, Ukraine is evacuating even from the occupied left bank of the Kherson Region.

In the flooded Golya Prystan of the Kherson region, the Russians are shelling evacuation points and blaming the Ukrainian troops for this.

This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

They added that the occupation authorities are forcing locals to say words of gratitude to the units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the alleged “rescue” and “evacuation” on a video camera.

“And yet, all this time, without waiting for help from the occupation authorities, people were forced to save each other on their own. After the stabilization of the situation and the withdrawal of water, when returning to the city, people witness looting and robbery of their own homes,” the General Staff says.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reported that on the flooded left bank, which is temporarily under occupation, local residents are watching a terrible picture – the bodies of people and animals that could not be saved are floating in the current.

People and animals died. From the roofs of flooded houses, people can see drowning people swimming past. You can see it from the other side, Zelenskyi said.

Why is no one evacuating the residents of the left bank

The left bank of the Kherson region is under occupation. The Russians have left people alone with their troubles and are not evacuating at all. The Ukrainian military cannot enter in an organized manner to evacuate the population, because they will immediately be fired upon by the enemy. Ukraine appealed to international organizations, in particular the UN and the Red Cross, to conduct a rescue operation. However, they ignore requests from Ukrainian agencies. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported that they continue to look for ways to save residents of the occupied territories. And Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that he was shocked by the inactivity of international organizations.

Oleshki from the inside. Like an apocalypse movie

The situation in occupied and flooded Oleshki is catastrophic. It is emotionally difficult to learn about the state of affairs in the city. But even with the outflow of large amounts of water, the problems of the townspeople do not decrease.

The products are already sold out

The first day after the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP, none of the shops were open. The next day, too. Only one outlet was open, its owner did not raise prices, and only there you could buy something for normal money. But the product ran out quickly – in 5 hours.

It’s good that for a while you could buy something at the wholesale store, but on June 12, it also closed, because everything was sold out.

“She worked these days, and that’s it, there’s no more food,” the person states.

Trying to buy something in the market is for the desperate and wealthy. A civilian in a car with Russian license plates sold there: potatoes, onions, carrots, cigarettes – but the prices are not for the faint of heart. Cigarettes have become three times more expensive, and potatoes have become 5-7 times more expensive!

“If earlier young potatoes could be bought for 15-20 hryvnias, now he sets the price for 100-150.”

You can’t drink water

But the problems with drinking water are more critical than the lack of products. You can’t drink it – at least you need to boil it. Local specialists measure some parameters of drinking water, the interlocutor does not understand the nuances, but says that at the number 150, the water should already be boiled. In some areas of the city, this indicator has exceeded this critical point, and in some it reaches as much as 400!

At the same time, the Russians assure everyone that the water in the Kherson region meets the standards – this information is distributed by Rosspozhivnadzor (in their name – Rospotrebnadzor), “there is no negative impact on the water quality of the aquifer.” These occupiers are kind of unpredictable. At the same time, they create fakes that scare people with a potential outbreak of infectious diseases — and immediately reject the real threat.

Everything rots on the streets

The interlocutor saw with his own eyes that the water carries with it the corpses of animals and people:

“When I was swimming, saving people on an inflatable boat, I personally hit something hard, like a stone, with an oar. I look – and there is a woman, about 70-80 years old. I tried to pull her out, but the boat almost capsized, and I couldn’t…”

And now there are dead chickens, dogs, kittens, even cows lying under the yards. All this is rotting on the street, and this, the stranger says, is very scary:

“When you swim very far on a boat, something squeaks, something screams, something squeaks from all sides, and it’s indescribable, as if I’m watching a movie about the apocalypse…”

People are afraid of Russians

In principle, there is a possibility to leave Oleshok, the Russians can evacuate. But people are afraid of them. And the one who dares, later regrets it.

A vivid example is the story of a person who nevertheless believed the enemy’s promises. When the house began to flood, the Russians took him and others by boat and brought him to Henichesk. There, an “uncle in uniform” came to the evacuees in the evening, he began to tell people that everything will be fine, that Russia is here, they say, live healthy, you will be fed in the morning, at lunch and in the evening. In the morning they were really fed (once!), then each was given a bag of macaroni — and that was it. These 10 people could not get out of Henichesk anywhere. It is good that in a couple of days the resident of Oleshok was able to contact his acquaintance, who arranged through his acquaintances to pick him up free of charge and take him in the direction of Skadovsk.

Cases of total extortion of money for evacuation have not been observed, but there was at least one case. The man on the roof asked for help from the Russians, who at the beginning of the flooding watched the water coming from every street. He only heard from them the price of his salvation: “2,500.” Then there, on the roof, he himself built a raft, took chickens, chickens, ducks, and swam…

Regarding evacuation only with a Russian passport, there is an assumption that this can happen, but the interlocutor does not personally know about such cases. And how to detect the presence of a Russian or Ukrainian passport, if many have lost everything, including documents?

Mutual aid and dreams

Now more than ever before, people help each other – with food, with water, with housing, with everything that can somehow help others.

“A man’s clothing store sank, we drove with one woman, took these clothes, now they are being washed, and as soon as we dry them, we will take them to the hospital. That is, people help themselves.”

And all the people of Oleshkiv are living a dream – one for all, from February 24, 2022 – that the Russians will finally leave or die here.