Oleshky

Russians accused of hindering evacuations

Russian forces in control of a Ukrainian town on the occupied southern side of the Dnipro River near Kherson have been accused of preventing evacuation efforts after flooding caused by the bursting of the Nova Khakovka dam.

The town of Oleshky appears to be the worst-affected area in territory controlled by Russia. Videos and photographs have shown severe flooding and residents stranded on the roofs of their cottages.

Reports have emerged indicating Russian forces were preventing local volunteers from evacuating people in Oleshky by setting up checkpoints.

Helping to Leave, an organisation that provides aid and services to Ukrainians fleeing the war, said it had been unable to organise evacuations.

“They are not allowing volunteers on boats to enter,” a representative from the group said. “[Russian] emergency services are carrying out some evacuation but it’s very selective and it is not enough.”

At least five people have died in Russian-occupied parts of southern Ukraine since the dam burst. Russian emergency services said yesterday that evacuations were under way, but some residents and human rights groups criticised Russia’s efforts.

“The Russian emergency services are evacuating a small percentage of people but, judging from the volume of evacuation requests we are receiving, absolutely not as many as they should,” the Helping to Leave representative said.

They said their organisation had received more than 350 evacuation requests from people stranded on the Russian-controlled southern bank of the river. One such request, the organisation said, came at midnight from three pensioners who were floating around the town on inflatable mattresses.

Sergei, a local volunteer, said the situation in Oleshky was “bad”.

“There is almost no contact with the people there. No one is allowed into the town and those who make it out on boats are placed into buses and driven away,” he said. “We tried reaching Oleshky but checkpoints have been set up all around the town. A lot of people are waiting to be evacuated. We have heard stories of people drowning, but we can’t confirm because there is no access.”

There appeared to be no phone signal in Oleshky yesterday, leaving relatives to frantically search online for information about loved ones.

Svetlana, an Oleshky native who moved to Kherson after the city’s liberation last autumn, said her mother and aunt remained in the town.

“My mother told me yesterday that they would go on the roof until someone rescues them,” she said.

“The local authorities didn’t instruct them what to do. I am calling the Russian emergency services all the time but they aren’t helping … Russia has just forgotten about them.”

Local Telegram channels were also full of desperate messages from relatives, asking for their loved ones to be rescued. One read: “SOS!!! Can anyone with a boat help? Cottagers Anna … and her husband have been sitting on their roof since morning, praying for rescue. They’ve raised a white flag. It’s the first house on the right. Help!!!”

The Kazkova Dibrova zoo on the Russian-held riverbank was completely flooded and all 300 animals were dead, a representative said via the zoo’s Facebook account.

There appeared to be isolated reports of Ukrainian volunteers on boats performing daring rescue operations in Russian-occupied land to rescue stranded people.