GENICHESK, June 9. /TASS/. Ukrainian troops conduct mortar fire at rescuers who are evacuated people from flooded areas in the Kherson Region, Andrey Alexeyenko, head of the regional government, said on Friday.

"Today, the Nazi are conducted targeted mortar fire at boats of rescuers who are saving people from roofs and at dry areas where these people are taken by these boats to. Only by miracle, no one was wounded," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

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. According to emergency services, there are 35 communities in the flood zone, and residents of nearby villages are being evacuated. Eight people are reported to have died and more than 60 taken to the hospital.

The destruction of the hydro power 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.