Streets are flooded in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was blown ... [+]
Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 470.
As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes gathers information and provides updates on the situation.
Ukrainian intelligence believes that the recent explosion at the Kakhovka dam, however poorly executed, was intentional. Russian forces carried out the sabotage in a very chaotic way, putting their own critical military equipment at risk of flooding. Following a meeting with Ukraine's military command, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that destruction of the dam will not affect Ukraine’s ability to launch its planned counter-offensive and regain occupied land.
Kherson region. Russian forces continued their shelling of the city of Kherson, one hour after a visit by President Zelenskyy and while rescue operations were underway to evacuate residents trapped by flooding. The attacks wounded nine people, including two emergency service officers, a policeman and a German volunteer.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Oleshky told the press that 90% of the area is now submerged, with the first known cases of deaths from drowning.
Ukraine’s healthy ministry expects a fish die-off in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions during the next three to five weeks. The reason for the die-off, according to the ministry, is a rapid lowering of water levels due to destruction of the Kakhovka dam. Furthermore, wells and open water reservoirs likely will be contaminated by chemicals and pathogens of infectious diseases stirred up from the bottom of the dam reservoir. The ministry is advising people in the affected areas to drink only bottled or imported water. Buried mines now floating in flood waters also endanger local residents.
An elderly woman holds a disabled relative as they are evacuated from a flooded neighbourhood in ... [+]
Zaporizhzhia NPP, which sits 120 km from the Kakhovka dam, is unlikely to face immediate additional safety issues due to the dropping water levels in the reservoir, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The Nova Kakhovka Zoo was flooded, only swans and ducks were able to survive. It is believed that there were approximately 260 animals at the zoo.
Sumy region. Russian forces shelled the border area day and night yesterday. The attacks injured a woman, destroyed a school, struck several private homes, damaged a number of power lines and set a forest on fire.
Ukrainian units have advanced as much as one mile in several directions on the Bakhmut front in the past 24 hours. As Wagner Group mercenaries have moved to rear positions, regular Russian army troops have taken up the front lines around Bakhmut. In his regular evening appeal to the nation, President Zelenskyy praised Ukraine’s soldiers for their achievements at Bakhmut.
President Zelenskyy stated at a press-conference on June 6 that several Western allies have already notified him of the number of F-16 jets they will provide Ukraine. Transfer of the jets, Zelenskyy acknowledged, awaits agreement by the United States for reexport of the fighters to Ukraine. Ukraine's air force also requires several months of preparation for incorporating the new aircraft.
The Swiss legislature's upper house voted yesterday in favor of amending rules governing re-export of the country’s weaponry. Subject to a certain terms, states purchasing Swiss-produced arms now would be allowed to sell them to other countries. The amendment, however, requires approval by the lower house of the parliament, whose members previously failed to come to an agreement on this change with the upper house.
By Daria Dzysiuk, Alan Sacks