'More and more water is coming every hour' - people flee as Kakhovka dam bursts

A large catastrophe has been declared successful confederate Ukraine aft a large dam successful the Kherson portion was breached. President Volodymyr Zelensky said astir 100 towns and villages are nether h2o with thousands of radical being evacuated arsenic a result. Ukraine and Russia are accusing each different of being saboteurs, but erstwhile again civilians are facing contiguous consequences.

"This is simply a immense ecological catastrophe," Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko told the BBC, adding that much than 150 tonnes of motor lipid from the dam adjacent the municipality of Nova Kakhovka is contaminating the water.

"Maybe much volition come," helium says. "The consequences volition past decades."

Mr Goncharenko warned that tens of thousands of lives are astatine hazard connected some sides of the River Dnipro - including successful the Russian occupied portion of Ukraine to the southbound and successful the metropolis of Kherson to the northbound which was regained by Ukraine backmost successful November.

"We spot with our ain eyes the level of h2o is increasing," helium adds. "Also we tin spot the h2o is moving truly quickly. To destruct the span with specified atrocious consequences is conscionable truthful barbaric."

Videos connected societal media amusement h2o gushing done the breach adjacent the dam successful the municipality of Nova Kakhovka.

"Flood waters are coming," Andriy Kostin, authoritative wide of Ukraine told the BBC. "We expect the maximum volition travel successful respective hours."

He said 17,000 radical person already been evacuated arsenic helium warned implicit 40,000 radical are successful information of being flooded.

Hanna Zarudnia, 65, was 1 of those evacuated from the colony of Antonivka - which is conscionable northbound of the banks of the River Dnipro.

"Our section schoolhouse and stadium downtown were flooded, the stadium was wholly nether h2o and the floodwaters were reaching the school," she told Reuters.

"The roadworthy was wholly flooded, the autobus was stuck. Only 1 elevated constituent could beryllium reached by the autobus and this is wherever we were taken from."

Another Kherson resident, Olga, said she was woken up astatine 08:00 section clip by messages that houses were flooded and the evacuation was nether way.

She says she has packed her suitcase and has prepared everything she needs but she has 4 cats and 2 dogs and doesn't cognize however she'll instrumentality each of them with her.

"I'm 62 and my full beingness I've lived here. My kids had to leave, and I stayed... I don't privation to permission this place," she told BBC Radio 5 live.

On the confederate banks of the River Dnipro 1 authoritative successful the Russian-occupied state of Kherson said the municipality of Oleshky has been "completely flooded".

"Evacuation... is imaginable lone utilizing peculiar equipment," Andrei Alexeyenko said connected Telegram.

He besides posted videos showing 1 car lasting successful floodwaters up to model level and a lorry driving on a road successful h2o astatine slightest a ft (30 cm) deep.

Russian soldiers were patrolling the streets, respective section radical told Reuters.

"Getting close, and particularly taking a photograph oregon video, is deadly. They accidental they are acceptable to sprout without warning," said 1 section man, Hlib.

Yevheniya, different resident, said the h2o was up to the knees of Russian soldiers walking the main thoroughfare successful precocious rubber boots.

"If you effort to spell determination they don't allow, they instantly constituent their instrumentality guns astatine you," she said.

"More and much h2o is coming each hour, it's precise dirty."

Elsewhere, a section Ukrainian person successful the Mykolaiv region, conscionable northbound of the Nova Kakovka dam, told the BBC helium expects to person a ample fig of refugees fleeing flooding successful the coming days.

Oleh Pylypenko, the caput of the Shevchenkivka United Territorial Community, said: "We person an assistance constituent for refugees, wherever they are provided with food, medicine, covering and intelligence assistance."

He said civilians would past beryllium taken to impermanent accommodation elsewhere successful the Mykolaiv portion by bus.

On Tuesday successful an code to the Bucharest Nine - a acme which brings unneurotic nations connected Nato's eastbound borderline - President Volodymyr Zelensky elaborate the contiguous affects of the floods.

He said: "At slightest 100,000 radical lived successful these areas earlier the Russian invasion.

"At slightest tens of thousands are inactive there. Eighty towns and villages are nether water."

It whitethorn instrumentality immoderate clip for questions implicit who breached the dam to beryllium answered arsenic overmuch of the grounds is besides nether water.

But Nato wide caput Jens Stoltenberg is wide civilians connected some sides of the warfare volition person to woody with the consequences of the flooding threats.

He tweeted: "The demolition of the Kakhovskaya Dam contiguous puts thousands of civilians astatine hazard and causes superior harm to the environment.

"This is an outrageous enactment that erstwhile again demonstrates the cruelty of Russia's warfare successful Ukraine ."