The evidence suggests Russia destroyed the vast, vital dam. Now the long cleanup for the human, environmental and potentially nuclear catastrophe must begin amid a brutal war
Four-and-a-half days after Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam burst, the longer-term scale of the flooding disaster is gradually becoming apparent. In the station at Mykolaiv, the first city inland, pensioner Olena Lysiuk, says she had no choice but to quit her apartment in Kherson, even though it was too high up to be flooded.
“It’s not just that we don’t have any water, gas or electricity. We have also got used to not having those during the Russian occupation. But now the sewage doesn’t work. That’s the new problem,” Lysiuk says. Now she plans to stay in Mykolaiv with relatives, with the state having given her about 10,000 hryvnia (£215) in support.
