UN aid workers who want to visit areas ravaged by the recent Kakhovka dam collapse in southern Ukraine can’t go there because fighting in the war makes it unsafe, the Kremlin’s spokesperson said Monday.
The United Nations rebuked Moscow on Sunday for allegedly denying aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas where residents are stranded amid “devastating destruction.”
The UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement that her staff were engaging with both Kyiv and Moscow, which control different parts of the area, in a bid to reach civilians in need. They face a shortage of drinking water and food and a lack of power.
Brown urged Russian authorities “to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law” and let them in.
‘Difficult to ensure their security’
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov didn’t explicitly admit that Russia had blocked UN access, but told a conference call with reporters that Ukrainian attacks made a visit too risky.
“There has been constant shelling, constant provocations, civilian facilities and the civilian population have come under fire, people have died, so it’s really difficult to ensure their security,” Peskov said.
Severe flooding from the destruction of the Kakhovka dam has made life in southern Ukraine even harder. Landmines have become harder to locate, many residents have been forced to resettle and water is being rationed, causing farmers to lose their crops.
His comments came amid varying accounts by survivors of the quality of assistance that Russia is providing in areas it controls. The dam lies on the Dnipro River, which forms the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces on the eastern and western banks, respectively.
Many evacuees and residents accuse Russian authorities of doing little or nothing to help. Some civilians said that evacuees were sometimes forced to present Russian passports if they wanted to leave.
On the Ukrainian side, rescuers are braving Russian snipers as they rush to ferry Ukrainians out of Russia-occupied flood zones.
Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said Monday that the death toll resulting from the dam collapse had risen to 18 — 14 from drowning and four from gunshot wounds sustained during evacuation. A further 31 people were missing, he said.
Ukraine’s presidential office said Monday that the Kherson region affected by the flooding had endured 35 Russian attacks over the previous 24 hours.
Drone photos of car atop dam
Exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press indicate that Moscow had the means, motive and opportunity to blow up the dam, which was under Russian control, earlier this month.
Two Ukrainian military commanders said Russian troops were stationed in a crucial area inside the Kakhovka dam where the Ukrainians say the explosion that destroyed it was centred. They said the images taken from above appear to show an explosives-laden car atop the structure.
It’s not clear the car ever exploded and any such bomb would not have been powerful enough to bring down the dam, but Ukrainian officials say the photos show the Russians’ intent to rig it.
The explosion occurred as Ukraine mustered for a counteroffensive. Kyiv’s forces have intensified attacks along the 1,000-kilometre front line recently.
Some analysts saw the dam breach as a Russian effort to thwart Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Kherson region.
The U.K. Defence Ministry said Monday that Russia had recently redeployed several thousand troops from the banks of the Dnipro river to buttress its positions in the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut sectors, which reportedly have seen heavy fighting.
The move “likely reflects Russia’s perception that a major Ukrainian attack across the Dnipro is now less likely” following the dam’s collapse, the ministry said in a tweet.
Ukrainian forces advance
Ukrainian forces have advanced up to seven kilometres into territory previously held by Russia, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said. Russia’s Defence Ministry didn’t confirm losing any ground to the Ukrainian forces.
In response to “increased attacks by the occupiers,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday in his nightly address that Ukrainian soldiers were “moving forward in some directions, defending their positions in some directions.”
“We have no lost positions. Only liberated ones,” he asserted.
It wasn’t possible to independently verify battlefield claims by either side.
Russia is also pursuing offensive actions, according to Maliar.
Russia has concentrated a significant number of its military units, and particularly airborne assault troops, in Ukraine’s east, Maliar said. They are stepping up Moscow’s offensive around Kupiansk in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv province and Lyman in the eastern Donetsk province, she said on Telegram.
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