Catastrophe in Kherson Ukraine’s rescue operations and the aftermath of the Kakhovka dam disaster. In photos.
Since the Kakhovka dam collapsed on June 6, Ukraine has been working to rescue residents from flooded parts of Ukraine’s Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. More than 70 settlements and thousands of homes are estimated to be located downstream from the Kakhovka HPP. Thousands of local residents have already been evacuated. According to reports by both the Ukrainian authorities and the Russian occupation authorities, at least 13 people have died in the flooding. Volunteers who have evacuated residents from Russian-occupied territory estimate that the number of dead is actually much higher. The dam breach has also caused an ecological catastrophe, which could lead to (or may have already led to) a mass death of animals.
The destroyed dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP). June 7, 2023.
AP / Scanpix / LETA
One of the Kakhovka HPP’s buildings. June 8, 2023.
A Lenin statue on Dniprovsky Avenue in Nova Kakhovka, located in Russian-occupied territory. June 6, 2023.
The settlement of Dnipriany, located in Russian-occupied territory. June 7, 2023.
AP / Scanpix / LETA
Flooded houses in Dnipriany, located on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Russian-occupied territory. Dnipriany is downstream from the Kakhovka HPP. June 7, 2023.
AP / Scanpix / LETA
An image taken from a drone used by Ukraine’s Armed Forces on June 8, 2023. The image shows a boy named Maksym who, along with his mother and sister, were waiting to be rescued in the attic of their flooded home in Oleshky. Ukrainian soldiers first used the drone to give them drinking water, before evacuating them to Kherson.
DPS Ukraine / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson. June 7, 2023.
Olexander Kornyakov / AFP / Scanpix / LETA
A resident of Korsunka on a flooded street, located in Russian-occupied territory. On June 7, Vladimir Leontyev, the Russian-installed “mayor” of Nova Kakhovka, reported that Korsunka was completely underwater.
Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
The village of Korsunka. June 7, 2023.
The city of Hola Prystan, located on Russian-annexed territory. June 9, 2023.
A house in the village of Sadove near the mouth of the Inhulets River, the Dnipro’s right tributary. The village is under Ukrainian control. June 8, 2023.
Mykolo Tymchenko / EPA / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson residents on an inflatable boat on a flooded city street. June 7, 2023.
Roman Hrytsyna / AP / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson. June 8, 2023.
Daniel Carde / ZUMA Press Wire / Scanpix / LETA
Rescue workers are pictured with the body of a Kherson resident. June 7, 2023.
Andre Alves / Anadolu Agency / ABACAPRESS / ddp images / Vida Press
Kherson residents escape the flooding. June 7, 2023.
Alex Babenko / Getty Images
A Kherson resident carries bedding out of her flooded home.
Matthew Hatcher / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images
Kherson. June 6, 2023.
Evgeniy Maloletka / AP / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson. June 7, 2023.
Alex Babenko / Getty Images
Photographs from a family photo album dry in an attic. Kherson. June 7, 2023.
Alex Babenko / Getty Images
Kherson. June 7, 2023.
Felipe Dana / AP / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson. June 8, 2023.
Yan Dobronosov / Global Images Ukraine / Getty Images
Rescue workers tow boats holding residents from flooded areas of Kherson. June 6, 2023.
Felipe Dana / AP / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson. June 7, 2023.
Ivan Antypenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
The city of Hola Prystan, located in Russian-occupied territory. June 8, 2023.
Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson residents hide from Russian shelling during evacuations from the flooding. June 6, 2023.
Felipe Dana / AP / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson. June 6, 2023.
Felipe Dana / AP / Scanpix / LETA
A hedgehog saved by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. Kherson. June 8, 2023.
State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Kherson. June 8, 2023.
Aleksey Filippov / AFP / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson. June 7, 2023.
Muhammed Enes Yildirim / Anadolu Agency / ABACAPRESS /ddp images / Vida Press
The Korabel district of Kherson. June 6, 2023.
Valentyna Gurova / Suspilne Ukraine / JSC "UA:PBC" / Global Images Ukraine / Getty Images
Serhiy Ludinskyi, a volunteer, rescues a duck. Kherson. June 8, 2023.
AFP / Scanpix / LETA
A Kherson resident and her pet evacuate by boat. June 8, 2023.
Libkos / AP / Scanpix / LETA
Kherson. June 7, 2023.
George Ivanchenko / EPA / Scanpix / LETA
A mass death of fish was reported after the Kakhovka reservoir’s water levels dropped. The image was captured in the town of Marianske in the Dnipropetrovsk region. June 7, 2023.
Sergiy Chalyi / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA