Ukraine dam: Thousands flee as floods submerge Kherson and nearby towns

Thousands are fleeing parts of confederate Ukraine aft a large dam burst, triggering immense floods and sparking a humanitarian disaster.

Water continues to surge down the Dnipro stream which divides Russian and Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Officials accidental 29 towns and villages on the stream person been flooded and astir 2,000 homes person been submerged successful the main metropolis of Kherson.

Both Ukraine and Russia blasted each different for sabotaging the Kakhovka dam.

The BBC has been incapable to verify claims from either side.

Early connected Tuesday morning, the dam successful Russian-controlled Nova Kakhovka was breached, starring to wide evacuations arsenic h2o levels downstream rapidly increased.

One woman, who arrived successful Kherson connected a rescue vessel from the Russian-occupied eastbound broadside of the river, explained however rapidly the concern escalated aft she heard astir the catastrophe aboriginal connected Tuesday.

"We managed to cod our things but the h2o kept rising. At that infinitesimal I was cooking buckwheat and my feet were already underwater. It started to flood truly fast," Kateryna Krupych, 40, told the BBC.

"It feels similar we lived a full beingness successful conscionable 1 day."

Rising h2o levels are expected to highest successful Kherson precocious connected Wednesday, but officials fearfulness a catastrophic interaction connected agriculture arsenic the immense Kakhovka reservoir empties into the Black Sea.

Kherson's determination politician Oleksandr Prokudin said 1,700 person truthful acold been evacuated portion Kremlin-installed officials connected the different broadside of the stream accidental 1,200 radical person been taken to safety.

Officials accidental much than 40,000 radical - 17,000 successful Ukraine-held territory westbound of the Dnipro and 25,000 successful the Russian-occupied eastbound - request to leave.

Unicef's Damian Rance said the foundation has seen homes wholly destroyed arsenic concerns proceed to linger astir trapped residents.

"Safe h2o has been impacted successful galore of these locations arsenic the h2o proviso evidently came from the reservoir there, arsenic has the energy supplies that person been chopped off."

President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier connected Wednesday that hundreds of thousands of radical crossed the Kherson portion are without capable drinking water.

Both sides blasted each different for the demolition of the dam. Ukraine says it was mined by Russian forces, and accuses Russia of doing small to assistance radical successful flooded areas of the Russian-occupied eastbound slope of the river.

Russia says the harm was caused by Ukrainian shelling, and President Vladimir Putin it "a barbaric act" successful a telephone telephone with Turkish person Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This is conscionable the latest trouble to deed the metropolis of Kherson. It was occupied by Russian forces soon aft the warfare began past year, but liberated by Ukraine successful November. Since past the metropolis has been bombarded with shelling.

Viktoriia Yeremenko, 57, told the BBC her location was destroyed successful February and she moved to her son's flat which has present been flooded.

"We managed to get out," she said. "There was panic, we had to permission rapidly and drawback the dogs. My member is fractional paralysed too."

In caller years the Kakhovka dam has go a awesome of leverage betwixt Kyiv and Moscow.

When Russia archetypal annexed Crimea successful 2014, Ukrainian authorities closed it down and chopped disconnected the peninsula from a large h2o supply.