GENICHESK, June 10. /TASS/. More than 6,000 people including 235 children have been evacuated from the flooded parts of the Kherson Region after the recent dam collapse, the region’s Interim Governor Vladimir Saldo said on Saturday.
"As of the morning of June 10, more than 6,000 people have been evacuated from the flooded areas of the Novaya Kakhovka, Aleshky and Golaya Pristan municipalities, including 235 children and 81 limited-mobility people," he said on Telegram.
The official said 32 of the people had been hospitalized. He said 795 first responders are involved in the rescue effort, which is being hampered by Ukrainian shelling.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces inflicted a missile strike on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant on the morning of June 6, destroying its valves and prompting an uncontrolled release of water. Thirty-five settlements and areas have been affected by floodwaters. Residents of nearby settlements are being evacuated. Officials said eight people were killed during the flooding. Two of them were killed in an artillery strike on an evacuation center, according to the officials. More than 60 people were taken to hospitals.
The destruction of the dam has caused serious damage to the environment, washed away farmlands along the Dnieper and raised the risk of the North Crimean Canal drying up. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the attack on the Kakhovka HPP a deliberate act of sabotage by Ukraine and said that the Kiev regime should be held responsible for the consequences.