Some civilians in Kherson are determined to stay in flooded homes, international aid worker says
Rescuers and aid workers in Kherson have found some people are determined to stay in flooded homes rather than be evacuated after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapse, an international aid worker in the region told CNN, Wednesday.
CARE Ukraine Area Manager Selena Kozakijevic said there are an “unknown number of people who are determined to stay in their houses even though they are flooded” and that many of these are elderly.
Some have experienced more than a year of conflict or have recently returned to their homes and are “less willing to leave because of flooding,” she said.
The city of Kherson was under Russian occupation for eight months and continues to face shelling from Russian forces on the other side of the Dnipro River.
Asked about Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal’s appeal for international aid organizations to help people in flooded parts of Russian-occupied areas of Kherson, Kozakijevic said some of the local partners CARE has been working with have received calls from people in occupied areas saying they are struggling to find assistance and requesting support.
Kozakijevic said what is happening in Kherson now is a “further crisis moment” that can only exacerbate the situation in the region. CARE works with local partners who have been assisting the humanitarian response on the front lines from the start of the war.
