GENICHESK, July 29. /TASS/. Flood water pumping and cleaning up activities following the collapse of the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) will take several more weeks, Acting Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo told TASS.

"We don’t expect the Kiev regime to address the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Kakhovka HPP but we are working tirelessly to deal with it. The first stage will be over when we remove the water and clean up the area. It will take several more weeks, maybe even months," he said.

Saldo specified that only lowlands remained flooded and rescue and utility teams were working to pump water from those areas. "There is a lot of work to do and the process goes on day and night," the acting governor noted. According to him, the flood seriously damaged numerous buildings. "There is also the collapsed dam. It will be possible to say that the damage from Kiev’s terrorist attack has been repaired only when everything is rebuilt," Saldo added.

On the morning of June 6, the Ukrainian armed forces delivered a strike on the Kakhovka hydro station, destroying the hydraulic sluice valves and causing an uncontrolled discharge of water. The water level reached 12 meters in Novaya Kakhovka at one point. The dam’s collapse caused serious environmental damage as farmlands along the Dnieper River have been washed away. The incident killed 55 people and another 175 were taken to the hospital with injuries.