As floodwaters recede, rescuers are increasingly cut off by putrid mud. The boats have carried volunteers and plainclothes servicemen, shuttling across from Ukrainian-held areas on the western bank to evacuate people stuck on rooftops, in attics and elsewhere. In the chaotic early days of flooding, Ukrainian rescue workers in private boats provided a lifeline to desperate civilians trapped in flooded areas of the Russian-occupied eastern bank - that is, if the rescue missions could brave the drones and Russian snipers. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of causing the breach. Massive flooding from the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on June 6 has devastated towns along the lower Dnieper River in the Kherson region, a front line in the war. "But when the boats were full of people, they started shooting." "They (Russians) let the boats through, those coming to rescue people," Shpalin said. Their vessel, taking civilians to safety in Kherson city across the river, had been shot by Russian soldiers positioned in a nearby house, according to Ukrainian officials and witnesses on the boat. An elderly man died before his eyes, his lips turning blue. "Our boat is leaking," Shpalin heard him say. The boat's rescue worker cried into the radio for reinforcements. He had boarded a rescue boat that had been traversing his submerged village when he felt it pierce his arm and then his leg. Vitalii Shpalin was fleeing the floodwaters that had submerged his neighbourhood when the bullet hit.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |