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Paul Ronzheimer is the deputy editor-in-chief of BILD and a senior journalist reporting for Axel Springer, the parent company of POLITICO.
KYIV — Russian forces are shooting at Ukrainian rescuers attempting to reach those trapped in flood-struck areas of occupied Kherson after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an exclusive interview.
“As soon as our helpers try to rescue them, they are shot at,” Zelenskyy said, referring to efforts to reach residents of towns on the Russian-occupied bank of the Dnipro River, which has been inundated with floodwater after blasts partially destroyed the dam on Tuesday. The floodwaters threaten 80 settlements on both the Ukrainian-held and Russian-occupied sides of the river, according to Kyiv.
“People, animals have died,” Zelenskyy said. “From the roofs of the flooded houses, people see drowned people floating by. You can see that on the other side. It’s very hard to get people out of the occupied part of Kherson region. When our forces try to get them out, they are shot at by occupiers from a distance.”
He added: “We won’t be able to see all the consequences for a few days, when the water has trickled down a bit.”
After initially denying that the dam had been blown up, Russia blamed Kyiv for the disaster. The dam bridges the Dnipro River, holding back as much as 18 cubic kilometers of water, and was a vital source of water to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.
Ukraine says the Kremlin is behind the destruction of the dam, as part of a desperate bid to hold back Kyiv’s expected counteroffensive.
“They understand very well that they will lose this battle,” Zelenskyy told Axel Springer, POLITICO’s parent company. “They are dragging out the liberation of our territories.”
Pointing to the fact that the dam has been under Russian forces’ control since the very beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Zelenskyy said the Kremlin was to blame.
“This is happening on occupied territory,” Zelenskyy said, adding that he had long warned his Western allies of the probability the Russians would attempt to destroy the dam.
“Everyone said: ‘The risk is high that the dam will be blown up if the adversary senses that we will come upon these territories to liberate them,’” the Ukrainian president said. The Russians “are afraid that we will start the counteroffensive in this direction and they want to make it difficult to liberate our areas. They didn’t think twice about flooding their occupied territories as well. I don’t see any other reasons.”
Zelenskyy also took aim at international humanitarian organizations, which he said were missing in action when it came to rescue efforts on the ground.
“They are not there,” he said. While Ukraine has appealed for help, “we haven’t received any response. I am shocked.”
Paul Ronzheimer reported from Kyiv.
