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'Dramatic' situation in Ukraine's flooded areas as UN humanitarians step up assistance after Kakhovka dam disaster

The massive flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine on 6 June continued to worsen over the past days, said the UN's top official in Ukraine, Denise Brown, when speaking on Friday to journalists from Bilozerka, a town on the Dnipro River about 20 kilometres west of Kherson.

“The status of the situation is dramatic,” said Ms. Brown, who is the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country. “This is a town that is five kilometers from the frontline, daily shelling including yesterday and now because of the destruction of the bridge, which is you know a result of the war, now there is flooding which came in the middle of the night, and came very fast, very quickly, and people were totally taken by surprise.”

Ms. Brown said that on Friday, the UN brought in a five-truck convoy to the affected areas, with desperately needed drinking water, food and equipment to help repair damaged homes.

Although water levels, which reached a peak of 5.6 meters in Kherson yesterday, are expected to start receding now, flooding will still last for at least a week, leaving affected people in urgent need of water, food, hygiene and other vital items.

“The initial estimates are 17,000 people affected but again that is people who have been able to move, those who haven’t moved yet, and of course those who maybe still on the left bank, which is temporarily not under the control of Ukraine, and we are discussing how to reach those people,” reported Ms. Brown. “I think it is really important to understand the crisis hasn’t stopped, it’s evolving, and we are all trying to adapt and that is why these conversations with the governments are critical.”

With landmines floating downstream, humanitarians are also stepping up efforts to help protect civilians against risks posed by unexploded ordnance.

Referring to her conversation with Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, the Government’s focal point on landmines, Ms. Brown said that they talked “about the importance of communicating with the population about this very risk- about how mines may have moved, so when the flood waters recede, there may be mines where there weren’t mines before, which means there aren’t any markings, and this is a significant risk.”

As the situation keeps evolving, the extent of the impact of the disaster caused by the Kakhovka dam destruction will only be known in the coming weeks. Apart from the huge immediate needs of the population, Ms. Brown also expressed concerns about the long-term impacts of the dam's destruction.

“It is agricultural land that I have seen today that has flooded,” she said. “It is homes destroyed, social infrastructure, it is water, it is energy, the environment potentially being contaminated, so huge immediate needs and a big, big long-term problem.”

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 2,200 people have been forced from their homes in areas of the Kherson region under Ukrainian control, although the actual number of displaced might be much higher.

In the Kherson region territory under the military control of the Russian Federation, at least five people were reportedly killed, and over 40 injured, according to Russian-installed authorities.

Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson from the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) emphasized that “not only OHCHR monitors, but humanitarian actors cannot get into the occupied territories. We reiterate the broader UN call to the Russian Federation to grant access to the occupied territories, to assist civilians who have suffered from the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam."

Since the massive flooding, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners have reached, in close cooperation with local authorities, at least 18,000 people with vital aid, mainly food, water and cash assistance.

“Water, sanitation and hygiene needs are a priority,” said Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). “Hundreds of thousands lack access to safe drinking water as the reservoir served as a critical water source for the surrounding regions. There are also public health concerns with pollutants including sewage, heavy oil and pesticides mixing with the floodwaters which are not expected to recede for several more days. So serious humanitarian consequences will last long after the water recedes.”

Humanitarians asserted that stagnant water in the flooded was a “major” health concern, carrying risks of cholera and diarrhea.

“We are coordinating with authorities and partners to identify and respond to needs in flood-affected areas and those that are receiving evacuees”, said UNHCR’s Shabia Mantoo. “We have pre-positioned and begun delivering emergency supplies to respond to the evacuees as well as affected communities in Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Dniprov regions. Ms. Mantoo added that “these include jerrycans, hygiene kits, bedding items. Our warehouse in Dniprov has received stock of 20,000 jerrycans and dispatched 7,000 to Kherson where access to save drinking water is a critical need.”

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Ukraine Kakhovka Dam- OCHA - UNHCR - OHCHR

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