One month after Ukraine dam breach, villagers in Russian-controlled
areas still live in destroyed homes
Send a link to a friend
[July 07, 2023]
HOLA PRYSTAN, Russian-controlled Ukraine (Reuters) -
Walking through what remains of his home, Leonid Garul points to the
ceiling and the walls to show where the floodwaters reached last month
when the massive Kakhovka dam was breached in southern Ukraine.
A former sitting room now resembles a junkyard, with couches, tables and
other bits of waterlogged debris piled in heaps. The walls, completely
stripped of their plaster, are now just straw and mud.
"We have been digging around in this shit already for a week, trying to
save at least something," Garul, 72 and shirtless, said as he tried to
pull a plank of wood from the wreckage. "I think there is practically
nothing left."
One month after the dam breach sent floodwaters pouring into Hola
Prystan and other small villages downstream, many streets here remain
underwater, and villagers like Garul are struggling to repair completely
destroyed homes with few supplies.
One of the greatest disasters of the conflict thus far, the collapse of
the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam on June 6 flooded hundreds of houses in
both Ukrainian and Russian-controlled territory. Huge areas of
agricultural land were rendered infertile, putting the global food
supply further at risk. Experts warn the environmental consequences
could last decades.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jul/07/images/ads/current/nutrienag_sda_HEROES_2023.png)
International legal experts assisting Ukraine concluded last month that
it is "highly likely" that Russia was responsible for planting
explosives at the dam. Moscow has said Ukraine blew it up on the
suggestion of Western leaders.
The death toll continues to rise, reaching 53 on Thursday in
Russian-controlled territory after rescuers discovered five more bodies
in the flood zone, Russian state news quoted local emergency services as
saying.
The United Nations said last month that Moscow had declined its offers
of aid for flood victims in areas under its control. The Kremlin cited
security concerns and "other nuances".
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/070723PIX/news_j4.jpg)
Men commute along a street after
floodwaters receded following the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam
in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the town of Hola
Prystan in the Kherson region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, July 6,
2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jul/07/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_060123.png)
Along a central street in Hola Prystan, local residents, many of
them elderly, line up to receive bottled water and a large bag of
food with oils and dried goods from the Russian-installed
authorities.
Many locals will have to walk through water to get home.
Streets in many residential districts still resemble brackish lakes,
where stray dogs wade up to their chests and cars sit rotting in
stagnant water filled with floating debris.
Andrey Domaev says the floodwaters took five days to fully retreat
from his home, leaving huge piles of dirt and rendering his kitchen
appliances and electronics useless. Mold is growing on what remains
of his walls.
"It's been like this for two or three weeks and it has already
started to rot," said Domaev, surveying his ruined possessions in a
baseball cap and tank top. He still doesn't have gas or electricity.
The 42-year-old says he wants to rebuild, but lacks the necessary
materials and thinks the restoration might take him months.
"If we get all the building materials, people pull themselves
together, and there's some calm, at least a little, it should be
faster,” Domaev said. "We are already slowly recovering, little by
little."
(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by
Philippa Fletcher)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |