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Russian missiles greet Zelensky’s visit to flooded Kherson region

President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to flooded area around the Kakhovka dam was not announced until after he had left the area - REUTERS
President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to flooded area around the Kakhovka dam was not announced until after he had left the area - REUTERS

With its Soviet-era tower blocks besieged by oily waters from the blown-up Kakhovka dam, the Ukrainian city of Kherson is like a vision of Venice gone badly wrong.

The sound of shelling is never far away, and instead of gondolas ferrying tourists, flotillas of rescue boats cruise around rescuing those still stuck in their apartments.

On Thursday, though, even a humanitarian mission aimed mainly at rescuing pensioners and stranded pets found itself directly in the firing line of the war. As rescue boats in the central Korabel district pulled up at a makeshift quayside at the half-submerged Extravaganza beauty parlour, the sound of gently lapping water was suddenly replaced by the high-pitched whistle of incoming mortar fire.

Shelling from the Russian bank has been hampering rescue operations in the area - REUTERS
Shelling from the Russian bank has been hampering rescue operations in the area - REUTERS

“Take cover!” yelled a group of volunteer national guardsmen, as the first of half-a-dozen shells hit the area, sending up huge plumes of water and crashing into nearby tower blocks.

The salvo of missiles at lunchtime was blamed on Russian forces on the Kremlin-controlled east side of the River Dnipro, and seem to have been in response to a flying visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky to watch the rescue missions in Korabel.

While the Ukrainian leader’s trip was not publicised until after he had left, the missiles started just shortly after details of his trip had been posted by his office online. At least eight people were later reported injured.

“This is supposed to be an evacuation mission, but the Russians are attacking it,” fumed Olha Khlebnykova, 54, a rescue worker from the northern city of Kharkiv, as she sheltered with The Telegraph in a tower block stairwell. “Kharkiv used to get shelled a lot but now Kherson is even worse. I just hope the volunteers who are out on the boats right now are OK.”

A nation of animal lovers, the Ukrainians have been searching for missing pets in the flooded area - LIBKOS/AP
A nation of animal lovers, the Ukrainians have been searching for missing pets in the flooded area - LIBKOS/AP

The volunteers were not OK. Among them was a badly-shaken local boat owner who gave his name only as “Sergei”, who normally used his vessel just for pleasure cruising on the Dnipro river. He said he had volunteered for what he thought would just be a quick mission to ferry a friend from a flooded apartment block, partly for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to drive his boat up and down Kherson’s streets. Instead, he had sailed into what felt like a mini-Dunkirk.

“One of the bombs landed right near us as we were sailing along,” he said. “It hit the roof of an apartment block just 50 metres from us, the noise was terrifying.”

Thursday’s shelling was a sign that despite the devastating damage caused by Monday’s explosions at the Kakhovka dam, which lies 40 miles upstream from Kherson, both Russia and Ukraine are intent on maintaining hostilities. The salvoes from the Russian side of the Dnipro were met with outgoing Ukrainian fire, with Kremlin officials later accusing Ukrainian forces of targeting evacuees fleeing flooded towns on the Russian-occupied east bank.

Ukrainian officials, who have accused Russia of deliberately sabotaging the dam, said last night that more than 600 square kilometres of land were now affected by flooding, with around 40,000 people recommended for evacuation.

Alexander Orel has been sheltering in his neighbour's house near the Dnipro river
Alexander Orel has been sheltering in his neighbour's house near the Dnipro river

Having already endured eight months of Russian occupation last year, however, many Kherson residents are not easily moved on. Among those staying put is pensioner Alexander Orel, 67, whose house on the banks of the River Dnipro has been right in the crossfire between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Twice in the last six months, his back garden has been hit by Russian phosphorous incendiary bombs, setting it ablaze. Now it lies completely submerged, the Dnipro having surged by nearly four metres in the hours immediately after the dam burst.

“We heard about the dam burst on the news so we were ready for it, although it was very scary watching the water rise so high and quickly,” he said, as he waded in shorts through knee-deep water sluicing round what was normally a vegetable patch. “But our neighbour’s house is empty further up the road so we’re staying there – this is our homeland, so why should we leave it?

As he spoke, the roar of the river beside him showed just how dramatic the scale of the dam burst has been. Normally, at this time of the summer, the Dnipro is quiet and slow flowing: right now, it is more like the Amazon in rainy reason. The floodwaters flow at around 25mph, forming foaming rapids over patches of submerged woodland and dragging entire trees downriver.

A sodden cat manages to clamber out of the floodwaters in Kherson - MYKOLA TYMCHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
A sodden cat manages to clamber out of the floodwaters in Kherson - MYKOLA TYMCHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Along the riverbank, eels, frogs and snakes swim around in abundance, forced from their usual habitats by the strong currents. Further upriver, entire shoals of fish have been found dead on the riverbanks, and around Kherson, there are fears that the floodwaters may wash up more grisly discoveries. One resident said on a local Facebook page that he had found the corpse of an unidentified victim of the war unearthed by the floodwater.

Despite the havoc, in parts of Kherson unaffected by the floods, life goes on much as normal, with cafes and shops remaining open. On Thursday, residents were also hoping that the floods had finally reached their high tide mark.

“Since this morning the water hasn’t got any higher, and we hope it may be going down now a little,” said Artur Sherbina, who lives in a nine-storey tower block next to a flooded harbour. His neighbours had marked that morning’s high-tide point with an old soup can, from where the waters had now retreated by around a foot.

The city of Hola Prystan, in the Kherson region, is almost completely submerged by the floodwaters
The city of Hola Prystan, in the Kherson region, is almost completely submerged by the floodwaters

Most residents who have requested evacuation have now been moved out, although as a nation of pet lovers, Ukrainians have taken on the rescue of dogs and cats with equal dedication. Teams of animal rescue experts, including many foreign volunteers, are everywhere, scouring neighbourhoods for chained-up dogs and plucking distressed cats from roofs and window ledges.

Among those rescued by a team led by Tom Bates, of the UK’s K9 animal rescue, was a white kitten who was scooped up like a goldfish in a large net. As the team were gently decanting the sodden feline into a plastic cat-carrier box, however, a bang of artillery fire startled it, causing it to race off down the road.

“I don’t think we’ll worry too much,” said Mr Bates. “He’s back on dry land, which is where he belongs.”