AreaRead the video transcript here
The water masses are still spreading: After the rupture of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, large parts of the Kherson region are under water. The backwater also pushes into the backwaters of the Dnieper – and floods areas that were fiercely contested during the war.
A British non-governmental organization that clears landmines in Ukraine warns of dangerous flotsam. The booby traps that have been washed away could detonate if they hit a solid obstacle.
Jasmin Dann, Halo:
"The Inhulez River was the front line of the conflict for several months, so its banks were quite heavily mined. We are working to clear these mines. But since the dam was blown up, the water level of the Inhulez has risen significantly. On the first day, it was about 55 centimetres."
The water also blocks the roads leading to the mined areas. This means that access is blocked for the helpers.
Jasmin Dann, Halo:
"At the moment, we can send our teams to some minefields with lower priority so that they can continue working. But if the situation remains like this, it will be difficult. The minefields we've been working on are very significant, they're areas that people need to return to."
The mines could now also have washed up on fields, gardens and roads in a huge area, according to a spokesman for the explosive ordnance unit at the Red Cross. And this also applies to places in the vicinity of which there have been no minefields so far and where people therefore do not expect booby traps. In the past, at least the emergency services would have known where the dangers lurked. That is different now. Drift mines could therefore pose a great danger to the civilian population for decades to come.