Putin directs Russian emergency services to organize aid efforts in flooded Kherson region

Vladimir Putin has directed Alexander Kurenkov, head of Russia’s emergency services, to organize aid efforts for residents of the Russian-annexed part of Ukraine’s Kherson region that’s in the flood zone following the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the order.

Peskov emphasized, however, that the destruction of the hydropower plant and subsequent flooding were the result of “sabotage by the Kyiv regime.”

Early on Wednesday, the Kremlin released a report about a telephone conversation between the presidents of Russia and Turkey, during which Vladimir Putin called the destruction of the Kakhovka dam “a barbaric act.” Recep Erdogan suggested forming an international commission to investigate the cause of the dam’s failure.

Ukraine says the Russian military caused the dam’s rupture on June 6, which has flooded nearly 5,000 homes in the Kherson region. Around 3,000 people have been evacuated from both the western bank and the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the Dnipro.