Ukraine war: About ‘42,000 people at risk’ from Nova Kakhovka dam flooding as levels rise by four ft in one night
Around 42,000 people are at risk from the destruction of Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam as rescue efforts continue to save people trapped by the rising waters, according to Ukrainian officials.
At least seven people are missing while up to another 100 people are trapped in the town of Nova Kakhovka, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.
About 42,000 people were at risk from flooding in Russian and Ukrainian-controlled areas along the Dnipro River, said Ukrainian officials, as the United Nations aid chief warned of “grave and far-reaching consequences”.
The RIA news agency reported the town’s Russian-installed mayor, Vladimir Leontyev, as saying that “thousands of animals” at the Nizhnedniprovsky National Nature Park had also been killed, and that the scale of the disaster was “huge” with the area at risk of contamination.
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Ukraine-Russia war latest – follow the latest developments
Dam destruction could be most damaging single event of war
Whole villages and towns engulfed by torrent of water
Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the destruction of the dam, which has sent floodwaters across a war zone and forced thousands to flee.
Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford, reporting downriver from the dam, said the water level had increased by “four feet” overnight amid a “sense of desperation” in the area – and experts think the water will keep rising for the next “four or five days before it starts to recede”.
She said: “There’s an awful lot more boats this morning than we saw at all yesterday. It was just civilians using their own boats and anything that could get wading through the water to get to their pets, to get to their homes, to try to get to their elderly relatives, many of whom have stayed behind despite all the bombing and shelling.
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Sky’s Alex Crawford reports from one of Kherson’s main squares which is ‘awash with water’
“We reckon (the water level) has probably come up about four feet overnight. So substantially more flooded, which I guess is why the police and the military are out here in some numbers and are bringing boats.
“Whether that’s enough boats, we don’t know. Certainly, there’s going to be, I think, growing anger about what’s happened and also a sense of desperation because a lot of this water, it looks very tranquil, but even yesterday we were wading through sewage, basically, and this is right in the town centre.
“They’re worried about the future implications of disease.
“We were speaking to a lot of the volunteers who have come here to help and they are bringing piles of medicine, antibiotics and cleaning materials.
“Dam construction experts have been trying to work out how much more of the foundations are likely to disintegrate around the dam and they’re predicting it will because of the sheer force of the water it’s been holding back – and that will unleash even more water.”
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Rescue operations are continuing in an attempt to save people from their homes
More water will be unleashed due to ‘sheer force’
The governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Wednesday that 1,582 houses had been flooded on the right bank of the river and some 1,457 people had been evacuated overnight.
The TASS agency, citing emergency services, said about 2,700 houses were flooded after the dam’s destruction.
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Russia accused of ‘attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction’ with dam attack
‘If the water rises, we will lose our house’
Residents have been seen wading through flooded streets carrying children on their shoulders, dogs in their arms and belongings in plastic bags while rescuers used rubber boats to continue searching for survivors.
One civilian, Oksana, 53, in Kherson, said: “Everything is submerged in water, all the furniture, the fridge, food, all flowers, everything is floating. I do not know what to do.”
Oleksandr Reva, who has been moving his family’s belongings into the abandoned home of a neighbour on higher ground, said: “If the water rises for another metre, we will lose our house.”
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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