Russia targeted an evacuation boat from the flood area, killing 3
The governor of the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kherson said that three people were killed and 10 wounded on Sunday when Russian forces bombed a boat carrying people. They were evacuated from flooded areas to the city.
The region was subjected to catastrophic floods after the Nova Kakhovka Dam was destroyed Kyiv and Moscow exchange Accusations of deliberately detonating it.
“Three people were killed, and 10 others were injured, including two law enforcement officials,” Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the Kherson region, said.
He added in a statement on Telegram that a 74-year-old man used his body to protect a woman from Russian fire and was hit in the back and died.
Prokudin’s statement did not say how the Russian forces attacked the boat.
The incident was first reported by Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said the boat was carrying evacuees from flooded areas in Russian-controlled territory to the city of Kherson.
“The Russian army attacked a boat carrying civilians being evacuated from the northern side of the Kherson region,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.
Water flows from the collapsed Nova Kakhovka Dam
High flood toll
This comes as the Ukrainian authorities announced today an increase in the death toll from the floods that followed the destruction of the dam, noting that six people were killed and 35 people were missing in the areas under their control.
In Russian-held territory, Moscow-appointed officials this week reported eight dead and 13 missing.
The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnieper River, on Tuesday, caused large amounts of water to reach towns and villages near the river, including the regional capital Kherson, which was recaptured by Ukrainian forces in November.
The two parties exchange accusations about this disaster that affected the two banks of the Dnieper River, which are under the control of each of them.
The Ukrainian Interior Minister, Igor Klimenko, indicated that the floods affected 77 towns, including 14 towns under the control of the Russians.
He mentioned the death toll of six dead and 35 missing persons, including seven children, in two regions.
3,700 people have been evacuated from Ukrainian-controlled areas.
And in areas controlled by the Russians, local authorities say they are More than seven thousand people have been evacuated.
