GENICHESK, June 7. /TASS/. The situation in the flooded Kherson Region city of Golaya Pristan has deteriorated rapidly on Tuesday evening, as floodwaters started to rise, the head of the region’s government Andrey Alekseyenko wrote on his Telegram channel.
"Following the developments in Alyoshki, the situation in Golaya Pristan started to worsen this evening. Bottomlands went under water in daytime, and then waters started to rise quickly. Although we had more time to inform and evacuate the people, many of them are still reluctant to collect their belongings and documents, and we have to persuade them. Even now, people refuse to believe that floodwaters may reach rooftops or rise even higher," Alekseyenko said.
In his words, the rescue and evacuation effort is being conducted "under constant Ukrainian shelling," although "there are no personnel or military equipment in the city’s residential districts."
"The simply fire indiscriminate Grad MLRS salvos at the city’s residential areas," Alekseyenko added.
The region’s administrative chief said that the rescue effort continues.
"In some places, people are being evacuated from rooftops. The rescue effort goes on. The crisis response center will continue processing phone calls and dispatch rescue teams at night. The evacuees are being delivered to shelters, where they are taken care of," he said.
Ukrainian forces shelled the Kakhovka HPP in the early morning hours on Tuesday, presumably using missiles fired from an Olkha multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). The gate valves of the plant’s dam collapsed as a result of the shelling, causing water to pour out uncontrollably.
As of now, the water level in Novaya Kakhovka has risen to above 12 meters. Fourteen settlements have been flooded and up to 80 are at risk of being inundated. People are being evacuated from neighboring settlements. However, according to local authorities, large-scale evacuations are not necessary. Farmlands along the Dnieper have been washed away. There is a risk of the drying out of the North Crimean Canal, which feeds water to Crimea.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the attack on the Kakhovka HPP as a deliberate act of sabotage by Ukraine. He added that the Kiev regime should bear all the responsibility for the consequences.