Corpses and looting: Lowering water reveals horror in Kherson

Reduction of flood waters caused by destruction, June 6, a dam in Ukraine reveals the extent of the tragedy in an area occupied by Russian forces, where residents condemn looting and urgently bury drowned people who appear in flooded areas.

“There are many drowned people, the morgues are full”a neighbor from one of the most threatened cities talks about the reality that the flood leaves behind.

“Today there were 67 funerals”, and “there will be more deaths as the water recedes”, explains this woman, who asked to remain anonymous in the face of possible reprisals from the Russian occupation authorities, who according to the authorities and several Ukrainian non-governmental organizations are doing everything they can. in their power to hide the magnitude of the disaster.

The testimony of this resident of the part of Kherson province occupied by Russian forces is one of dozens of complaints collected by the activist Diana Dereveancowhose the civil organization, Progressive Community, operates from Moldova help Ukrainian refugees and document Russian war crimes.

Because of its lower elevation, the east bank of the Dnieper River as it passes through Kherson province in southern Ukraine is more affected than the right bank. Apart from the orographic conditions, the eastern bank of the Dnieper has another disadvantage compared to the other bank of the river.

The Kherson province The area east of the Dnieper was occupied by Russian forces who, according to Kiev, deliberately blew up the dam to prevent a possible Ukrainian offensive in the area.

While the Ukrainian government has mounted a massive rescue operation on the west coast it controls, which has functioned even under Russian bombardment, neighbors on the east coast have condemned the abandonment of some occupation authorities who have prevented volunteers from working and carrying out looting.

The NGO Human Rights Watch published this week the testimony of a woman from the town of Oleshki, one of those submerged under water, who denounces the blockade imposed by Russian forces after the disaster.

According to the woman, the occupation authorities barred entrances and exits from the city, preventing those who tried to leave by car while the water level still allowed, and went so far as to shoot in the air to discourage volunteers from other areas who went to the aid of the two days after the disaster.

Both Ukrainian and non-governmental authorities, as well as Diana Dereveancoactivist denouncing the crimes of the Russian invasion from Moldova, reported systematic looting in flood-affected areas.

According to him The main headquarters of the Ukrainian armyRussian forces send empty trucks posing as humanitarian aid transports to later load them with furniture, electronic equipment and other goods that the Russian military would steal from homes in evacuated cities.

Testimonies collected by Dereveanco confirm these allegations and describe an apparent Russian desire for still-functioning electronic equipment found in evacuated homes.

Before rescue efforts could even begin, some of these voices say, Russian soldiers stole boats and generators from some houses that they would need to save themselves or help their neighbors.

An irreversible natural disaster
In addition to the human drama, the blowing up of the dam also caused a natural disaster that is, in many ways, irreversible. “The Russian occupation is causing extreme suffering on many overlapping and worsening levels”says Efe Anastasia Pavlenko, from Extinction Rebellion Ukraine.

An activist from an international environmental action group warns that “contaminated water is flowing through Ukrainian cities and towns into the Black Sea, killing all plants and animals in its path.”

“We are facing a global catastrophe,” says Pavlenko, who demands that the international community react more strongly to this “ecocide.”