Russia continues shelling flooded areas in Kherson, including evacuation points, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.
He said Russian forces «have completely abandoned people on the left bank of Kherson region to their fate,» days after the collapse of Nova Kakhovka dam.
Rescuers are also facing resource challenges while carrying out evacuations in Ukrainian-controlled Kherson due to the scale of the flooding, an emergency services officer told CNN.
Here are other key developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:
- Evacuations ongoing: At least 2,339 people, including 120 children, have been evacuated from flooded areas following the dam collapse, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. Zelensky said all levels of government and local authorities have been working nonstop to save as many people as they can. But the evacuations have been hindered by continued Russian shelling as well as a shortage of resources, officials said. Earlier Thursday, local officials said at least nine people had been injured by shelling as civilians evacuate Kherson city.
- Landmines danger: The collapse of the dam has displaced landmines in the region, the head of the Red Cross Weapons Contamination Program told CNN. Landmines “in the water, on the surface, [and] buried under the ground” in the area flooded by water have “shifted location,” Erik Tollefsen said. The marking and mapping systems used by charities and NGOs to detect and locate landmines are no longer accurate, as so many landmines have moved in the water.
- Nuclear plant impact: Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is still able to pump water from the Kakhovka reservoir following the dam collapse, even though water levels have reached the point where it was previously estimated pumps wouldn’t be able to operate, according to the UN nuclear watchdog. The plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, lies upstream from the collapsed dam.
- Civilian casualties: Ukraine’s central city of Uman was hit by a missile attack on Thursday, according to Ihor Taburets, head of the Cherkasy region’s military administration. “We have two hits: on an industrial facility and a car wash. In the second case, a fire broke out as a result of the hit,” he said. Eight people were injured, two seriously, Taburets said, citing preliminary information.
- Russian resistance: Ukrainian forces have suffered losses in heavy equipment and soldiers as they met greater-than-expected resistance in their first attempt to breach Russian lines in the east of the country in recent days, two senior US officials tell CNN. One US official described the losses — which include US-supplied MRAP armored personnel vehicles — as «significant.»
- Eastern advances: Troops are making progress and continue to advance in the Bakhmut area in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said Thursday. “The defensive operation continues, the enemy is trying to stop our forces but is getting beaten,“ the commander of Ukrainian Land Forces Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a Telegram post. He shared a video, purportedly showing soldiers of the 77th Air Assault Brigade destroying a Russian tank.
- US and UK reaffirm support: US President Joe Biden and his British counterpart, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, touted their «unwavering support» for Ukraine and shared condemnation of Moscow’s «brutal aggression» as they met in Washington, DC, Thursday. Biden said he believes the US will have the funding necessary to support Ukraine against Russia for as long as it takes. Biden said he’s confident in the continued funding despite what you hear from «some voices today on Capitol Hill,» referring to lawmakers who have expressed skepticism about US aid to Kyiv.
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