Ukrainian Julia personally experienced the dam disaster in the occupied city of Nowa Kachowka: “Only those who have a Russian passport are treated”

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Desperate people on roofs, dead animals in the zoo, constantly exploding mines: the burst dam in Nowa Kachowka in the south of Ukraine is causing enormous suffering. According to Ukrainian data, 600 square kilometers were under water on Thursday, with 32 percent on territory controlled by Kiev and 68 percent on territory occupied by Moscow.

The city of Nowa Kachowka, with a population of 46,000, has been particularly affected. Here is the dam that was destroyed on Tuesday. Was it a seizure or a stress fracture? The cause is unclear, as is who is responsible.

Nowa Kachowka is also the city where the Ukrainian Julia* (44) moved to when the occupiers came. She didn’t want to abandon her parents who lived there. Now Julia’s family is trapped. Escaping the occupiers and the floods is hopeless.

She tells Blick about the drama that unfolded after the dam in Nowa Kachowka burst. She does not want to reveal her real name because she is too afraid of repression by the occupiers.

Waiting on the roofs

«After the dam was blown up, the water reached the fourth street from the bank of the Dnieper, a third of the city is completely under water. The animals in the fairytale forest, which is our local zoo, have drowned. The summer cinema is under water.

In the first street on the bank, people with reduced mobility sought rescue, because no one from the occupying administration helped. Communication options are available only through Russian mobile operators, they are of poor quality, very expensive and often fail. Due to the communication problems, many people were initially unaware that the dam had been destroyed.

Some people have managed to flee to other villages on their own, others have climbed onto their roofs and are waiting to be rescued. It’s scary! People don’t know where their relatives are, all chats are full of missing persons messages and cries for help.”

Nowa Kakhovka crew chief Vladimir Leontiev spoke on Russian state television on Thursday morning about five deaths. In addition, more than 40 people were injured. This number cannot be verified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (45) said: “People, animals have died. From the roofs of the flooded houses, people can see drowning people floating by.” He expressed his disappointment that the UN and the Red Cross did not want to help his country. Other organizations such as Unicef, Caritas Germany and Mission Lifeline International are involved.

Russians were prepared

“The occupiers said they would save the people, but they are in no hurry because they want to get their belongings to safety first. The occupiers do not let people through the checkpoints. Volunteers are not allowed into the villages, so no one can see what the army is removing and where they are taking their equipment.

On Tuesday evening, the occupiers announced an evacuation bus that would be at the hospital at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. He was really there, but there were no people. After all, how are they supposed to get from the roofs of the villages to the bus in the city? About by plane?

The day before the dam broke, the occupiers behaved strangely and retreated to areas further from the coast. Now I know why.”

Ukraine has accused the invaders of deliberately blowing up the dam to halt the counter-offensive. The Russians, for their part, blame the Ukrainians. Given the evidence and arguments, experts at the US Institute for War Studies (ISW) in Washington believe that Russia deliberately destroyed the dam.

Many mines exploded

“Dirty water flows from the taps. The water washed up a lot of dirt, people collect dead fish. Mines were also washed away. All day Tuesday, mines laid on the coast by the occupiers exploded. It was very loud.

We fear that the floods will lead to drinking water shortages, communication problems and hunger. And also that the fish are infected and the cemeteries are flooded. The higher fields and summer gardens that are not flooded can no longer be irrigated because the water has been taken from the North Crimean Canal and now flows into the Dnieper. There will be no harvest, which will further exacerbate the food problem.”

The collapse of the dam is a tragedy with long lasting consequences. Large crop failures are expected due to the lack of water above the dam. The outflowing water itself is polluted. It is full of pollutants such as machine oil, chemicals, carcasses, excrement and live mines. About 40,000 people had to leave their homes.

Mandatory Russian passport

“We fear that the counter-offensive will now become much more complicated and delayed and that the occupiers will further tighten their stranglehold. The people cannot be treated because the hospitals are closed and only those who have Russian passports are admitted to Crimea. treated.

People are threatened if they don’t get a passport. You must have a Russian passport before September 1. If we are not liberated by that date, it will be difficult for us to survive.”

Russian occupation leader in the southern Ukraine region of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, confirmed that his own army had gained military advantage from the destruction of the dam. “You can’t do anything,” is his view of Ukrainian troops planning a counter-offensive to liberate the occupied territories.

Volodymyr Zelensky does not want to be stopped in his offensive plans because of the catastrophe. He promised: “The disaster at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, caused by Russian terrorists, will not stop Ukraine and the Ukrainians. We will still liberate our whole country.”

* Name changed and known to the editors

Source: Blick