Ukraine war: Citizens of flooded Kherson are remarkably calm as water levels rise
The torrent of water unleashed by the breaching of the Nova Kakhovka dam has engulfed whole villages, towns, agricultural land and large sections of Kherson city in southern Ukraine.
We watched as the waters rose and rose in Kherson city – sweeping debris, branches, tyres and anything else in its path.
Residents scrambled to leave their flooded homes in safety, sometimes just clutching pets and important documents and very little else.
87-year-old Tamara struggled out of a taxi that drew up along one of the main streets in the city to search for her cats.
“My babies, my babies,” she wailed. “I have to find my babies.”
87-year-old Tamara
A cat was handed out of the window of her flat to a relative who was helping her rescue her pets. But, the cat, clearly terrified, wriggled, bit and scratched his handler before leaping to the ground and scarpering down the street.
“She’ll be ok,” Tamara said resignedly. She thinks her neighbour will look after her cat.
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Ukraine War: Major dam attack
“Of course, I’m worried,” she told us, “I’m worried four times over! Who would do this to people and our animals?”
The residents of Kherson have seen it all.
They were one of the first cities to be invaded and taken over by the Russian military – and after the Ukrainians reclaimed it last November, they’ve suffered regular bombing and shelling since.
And now this; the deliberate destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam and the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant which millions rely on for drinking water.
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Yet most of the residents we spoke to seemed unphased and are pretty confident they can survive a bit of flooding.
Elena told us as she looked out onto the flooded backyard which was slowly rising to her porch step: “When you’ve lived in Kherson for the past six months, and you’ve lived through the bombing and been scared all the time because of that, the flooding is not so bad.
“So… we just try to keep safe.”
What a life – when you’re weighing up your daily safety and chances of survival between bombings and flooding.
‘Environmental bomb of mass destruction’
The Ukrainians lost no time hitting the social media platforms and blaming the Russians for the dam’s destruction.
There was a chorus of condemnations from the Ukrainian president and his fellow politicians, including the country’s foreign minister who called for an urgent meeting of the UN security council to discuss the dam explosion.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described it as “ecocide” and said it was “an environmental bomb of mass destruction”.
A satellite image shows Nova Kakhovka Dam in Kherson region
He once again pressed for NATO inclusion to ensure the country’s safety in the future and insisted it would not deter from their aim to reclaim all the territory that Russia has seized through the war.
“We will still liberate all our land” he said in his nightly address.
Russia insists it is not responsible
Dozens of towns and villages in the Russian-controlled area of Kherson region on the other side of the Dnipro River are also underwater and Russian officials have spent the aftermath of the dam explosion insisting they are not responsible.
Russia‘s Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal investigation into the dam explosion which has been in the Russian-controlled area of Kherson region since the first few weeks of the war.
Flooding is expected to continue to rise through the night and peak in the morning – then remain at those levels for four to five days before receding.
Hoards of volunteers have begun arriving in Kherson city by evening to help with what they expect will be a growing need to evacuate from homes as well as an increased requirement for medicines with dirty water swirling around the city streets and stagnating in basements and across fields.
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
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Pic: AP
Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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