GENICHESK, June 21. /TASS/. The number of people killed as a result of a collapse of the Kakhovka dam and subsequent flooding in the Kherson Region has risen to 41, the chairman of the region’s government, Andrey Alexeyenko, said on Wednesday.
"Regrettably, the number of deaths has risen to 41," Alexeyenko wrote on his Telegram channel.
The death toll previously stood at 38 people.
The head of the region’s government said that Novaya Kakhovka was gradually recovering from the disaster.
"Early on Wednesday, power supplies were again restored following the shelling by Ukrainian neo-Nazis. Water levels are practically back to normal in the Aleshkovsky district, where only low-lying areas remain flooded. However, high waters remain in populated areas of the Golaya Pristan district, including the city itself and [the nearby settlements of] Kokhani, Bolshaya Kardashinka, Malaya Kardashinka and the area of dachas," he said.
Disaster response teams of the Russian emergencies ministry and utility services are currently focused on pumping water from sewage and water supply facilities. The priority status is also assigned to post-disaster repairs at electrical substations.
An anti-epidemiological effort also continues in the affected area, with over 1,600 carcasses of dead animals collected and disposed of, and around 6,100 domestic animals vaccinated.
"As the waters recede, we continue to decontaminate streets and facilities using special chemical agents," Alexeyenko added.
On the morning of June 6, the Ukrainian military launched a missile attack on the Kakhovka HPP, which resulted in the destruction of gate sluice valves at the HPP’s dam, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. Water levels in Novaya Kakhovka rose to 12 meters, but now the water is subsiding. There are 35 communities in the flood zone. People are being evacuated from flooded areas. According to the latest data, thirty-eight people have died and 115 have been hospitalized. The destruction of the hydropower plant has caused serious environmental damage with farmlands along the Dnieper River being washed away. Additionally, there is a risk that the North Crimean Canal may run low and become too shallow.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the strike on the Kakhovka dam as an act of deliberate sabotage by Ukrainian forces, adding that the Kiev regime should bear full responsibility for its consequences.