Ukraine: Shelling affects evacuations of civilians in flooded areas

Russian artillery fire left at least one dead and 18 wounded Thursday, June 8 in the middle of a rescue operation in the city of Kherson, in the south of Ukraine flooded, accused the Ukrainian authorities. The shooting came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the city. For its part, Russia has also accused the Ukrainian army of deadly fire, claiming to have pushed back further north an offensive of troops and armor.

Ukrainian Red Cross volunteers rescue a woman in a flooded neighborhood of Kherson, June 8, 2023, as Ukrainian authorities accuse Russian forces of striking areas in the middle of an evacuation operation. © Evgeniy Maloletka / AP

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Ukrainians have in recent days accused the Russian military of striking Kherson at a time when thousands of civilians are evacuated from flooded areas following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, located upstream on the Dnieper River. According to Kiev, one person was killed and 18 wounded, including members of the emergency services, in Russian strikes on the center of Kherson and the surrounding area.

The special envoy of France 24 and RFI in Kherson, Gulliver Cragg was "at the time of the beginning of the shooting at one of the two access points to the water, in the center of Kherson", while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had also visited the city.

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In normal times, these are simple crossroads where the activities of volunteers who came with their boats for evacuation and rescue operations were now concentrated, for people living in disaster areas, Gulliver Cragg said. Where I was, there was a rather quiet atmosphere, until we heard the first shots. And there, a little panic, everyone tried to take cover. Then, we heard extremely loud shots.

>> Read also: Ukraine: what are the consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam?

Strikes in a point where "Zelensky had been photographed"

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It then turned out that the place hit was the other place where there is a water point, the roundabout called Shipowners' Square: this is where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been photographed a few hours earlier. One can then ask the question if the Russians thought they were directly targeting the Ukrainian president. But the strikes took place long enough after the head of state left," Gulliver Cragg said from Mykolaiv, another city in the south of the country, where the president visited a few hours after Kherson.

30 minutes before shelling in Kherson. This family was rescued from flood from the occupied territory to Kherson #Ukraine #Kherson pic.twitter.com/ioxj5FENlD

— Kristina Berdynskykh (@berdynskykh_k) June 8, 2023

According to the regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, among the wounded were "two rescuers, a policeman, a nurse and a German volunteer". The regional prosecutor's office also reported "four residents injured" in another strike on a village near Kherson.

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You are heroic "said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to rescuers working "under fire" in a message published on social networks after visiting the region where more than 600 km² were flooded.

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After visiting Kherson, Volodymyr Zelensky continued his visit to southern Ukraine, including the Mykolaiv region, where I am now, Gulliver Cragg continued. He talked about flood management, going to a town called Snihourivka, where the authorities have set up a centre for disaster management. This is especially to talk about the problems that the region will have in the long term, for example for agriculture. Although it is further south, in the Kherson region, and the surrounding villages, where flooding is greatest, the water level has also risen considerably in the north, as in the city of Snihourivka.

At this stage, the Ukrainian and Russian occupation authorities count six deaths in the floods.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a visit to flooded areas in Kherson, June 8, 2023. © Press Service of the Ukrainian Presidency / via AP

Russian forces accuse Kiev of bombing that killed pregnant woman during evacuation

Russian occupation authorities in Ukraine have accused Kiev of bombings that killed two people, including a pregnant woman, at an evacuation point in Golan Pristan, in the Russian-controlled area.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also said his troops had countered a Ukrainian offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, northeast of Kherson, at a time when Kiev says it is ready to launch an assault to reconquer the territories occupied by Moscow. "Today at 01:30 in the morning (Wednesday 22:30 GMT) in the Zaporizhzhia area, the enemy tried to break through our defenses with (...) up to 1,500 men and 150 armoured vehicles " he said in a statement. The enemy is stopped and retreats with heavy losses.

Claims, however, unverifiable from independent sources. There was no immediate mention of these events by Ukrainian authorities.

Location of the Kakhovka Dam, Ukraine. © Frédéric Charpentier / RFI

>> Also listen: Kakhovka Dam: "In psychological terms, Moscow can consider that it has regained control"

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• Ukraine
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