The water from the Dnipro river arrives earlier than anticipated as we travel towards Kherson’s riverbanks.
Rooftops can be seen above the muddy, hazy flood waters up ahead. A little truck’s roof is to the right.
Rarely, a tiny rescue boat swerves through the flooded streets to extract victims from their houses.
Flood floods have severely damaged low-lying sections of the city, which is located more than 75km (45 miles) downstream of the Kakhovka dam that was demolished on Tuesday.
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This city has been affected by every destructive aspect of Russia’s invasion.
Viktoriia, whose home was damaged in February, is introduced to us.
She explains, “I moved into my son’s apartment here, which has since flooded. “We were able to escape.”
We had to leave immediately and collect the dogs because there was panic. My brother is also partially paralyzed.
Concerned for her neighbors, who are now living on the edge of a body of water, Viktoriia is anxious. Hours after we met, water levels are predicted to peak and could climb even farther.
She claims, “My neighbors are essentially being held hostage.” Although I’m not sure if the emergency services can enter the building, they must be informed if there are additional people present. I need assistance, please.
Residents of Kherson in the flooded street
Kherson people simply want the misery to end, image caption
Viktoriia signifies a change in mood in this place, despite how powerless hearing about her experience could make you feel.
She says, “I’m hoping everything will be okay again.” We shall be freed, and this nightmare will come to an end.
Following a protracted period of occupation, Kherson was freed. Most days, it gets shelled, and now this.
There was a persistent hope when we visited in November of last year.
The city had just been freed by Ukrainian forces in a swift counteroffensive. It was the only regional center in Ukraine that Russian soldiers had taken control of during the invasion last year.
That environment has since changed. The mood is lower. Individuals have had enough.
The Kakhovka dam has come to represent Kyiv’s clout with Moscow. Ukrainian officials shut it down and cut off the peninsula from a significant water source when Russia initially took Crimea in 2014.
Then, Ukraine claimed last year that occupying soldiers had planted explosives in the dam, a claim that the Kremlin refuted.
