Floodwater engulfs southern Ukraine after dam collapse, residents forced to flee | In pics
Floodwaters in southern Ukraine were expected to crest today, with tens of thousands of civilians fleeing in peril from the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam. Residents waded through streets carrying children on their shoulders and belongings in plastic bags while rescuers used rubber boats to search areas where the waters reached above head height.
A state of emergency has been imposed in parts of Ukraine's Kherson region. Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the collapse of the dam, which has muddied the picture for a much-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive and threatens an environmental disaster. (Photo: Reuters)
Rescuers evacuate local residents from a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. (REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko )
Local residents react after their evacuation from a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka Dam breached. (REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko)
Rescuers evacuate local residents from a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. (REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko )
A satellite image shows Nova Kakhovka Dam in Kherson region of Ukraine. (Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS )
Residents of the Shebekinsky district of Russia's Belgorod region, who were evacuated following recent attacks on settlements near the Russia-Ukraine border in the course of a military conflict, stay at a temporary accommodation centre located in a sports facility in the city of Belgorod, Russia. (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)
Police evacuate local residents from a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine. ( REUTERS/Ivan Antypenko )
Police evacuate local residents from a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson. (REUTERS/Ivan Antypenko)
Streets are flooded in Kherson after the walls of the Kakhovka dam collapsed overnight. The wall of a major dam in a part of southern Ukraine collapsed, triggering floods, endangering Europe's largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A local resident helps to evacuate a woman from a flooded area. (REUTERS/Ivan Antypenko )