‘There’s nothing in their eyes. They’ve lost hope’: Rescuer reveals horrors of Kherson

A rescue worker at the scene of devastating floods in southern Ukraine following explosions at a major dam and hydroelectric power station says civilians are threatened by dislodged Russian mines.

The catastrophic waters – which have driven tens of thousands of residents from their homes and inundated entire cities – were released after the Kakhovka dam across the Dneiper River was damaged by several explosions.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry this morning ordered ten villages on the right bank of the river and parts of the town of Kherson downstream to leave everything behind and flee their homes.

And Sergey Panashuchuk told about the horror of the scene, where the locals have no electricity and were forced to leave their pets to drown.

He told MailOnline: “In Kherson, the city is now flooded and people have no electricity. About 1,800 people have been evacuated from the Kherson region, but the number is naturally growing.

Sergey Panashuchuk told of the horror of the scene, where the locals have no electricity and were forced to leave their pets to drown

Residents of the occupied region of Kherson, Ukraine, try to save pets and livestock from the flood

Rita, 38, along with her cat Kuzia, who were evacuated from a flooded village in Kherson

“People are really concerned about the fate of their pets, such as their cats and dogs, that they had to leave behind when they were rescued on boats by state rescuers.

“You see so many people on social media begging for help to save their pets. They want motorboats to save their pets.

‘They’re terrified. But with some you look into their eyes and there is nothing. They have given up hope.

“They have been shot at every day and now their houses are flooded. And when we evacuated them, we heard the Russian shelling on the other side of the river.

“Russians were mining in the area on the other side of the river to prevent a Ukrainian counter-offensive and the floods, but this flood set them in motion and now they are moving uncontrollably.

“There is a real danger that they pose a threat to civilians. In Kherson, it’s a real problem. They can damage houses, they can kill people.’

Kherson, which had a population of more than 280,000 before the war, was captured by Russia in March 2022, which withdrew eight months later.

Ukrainian authorities have previously warned that the dam’s failure could release 18 million cubic meters (4.8 billion gallons) of water and flood Kherson and dozens of other towns and settlements, home to hundreds of thousands of people.

Rescue workers carry out an evacuation operation from the catastrophic floods

Water pictured flowing strongly through a breach in the Kakhovka Dam

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry this morning ordered ten villages on the right bank of the river and parts of the town of Kherson downstream to leave everything behind and flee their homes.

A dog is rescued by a woman through flooded streets

The cause of the blasts is not yet clear, although Ukraine warned late last year that Russian troops had mined the dam as they pulled out of Kherson and Ukraine’s state hydropower company said the Kakhova power station had been destroyed by an explosion in its engine room – suggesting that it had been attacked from within rather than by outside attacks.

Mr. Panashuchuk continued, “We don’t understand what will happen next. No one knows how the water will behave and how much destruction it will cause. I don’t know what the situation will be overnight with the water levels still rising.

“What we saw was horrific. Houses are flooded. The water came quickly and hundreds of residents were evacuated by boat.’

The rescue worker immediately began calling other volunteers after learning that the power plant had blown up.

He arrived with a team of rescuers – including British and Americans – who have been working tirelessly to evacuate civilians as the situation worsens.

But in some villages, residents have refused to leave their homes – which he blames in part on the government assuring them the situation is under control.

Mr. Panashuchuk added: “This morning when we tried to reach villages in the Kherson region, the water rose at a rapid rate. Within hours they were under water.

“We don’t understand what will happen next. No one knows how the water will behave and how much destruction it will cause. I don’t know what the situation will be overnight with the water levels still rising.

A man sitting on a bench next to his dog watches the overflowing water meet him in Kherson

A local resident makes his way through a flooded road

A boy carries his belongings in bags as he leaves his home

People help an elderly man get into an inflatable boat as he tries to leave the flooded streets of his city

“We don’t know what we’ll wake up with tomorrow, but we’ll go back to Kherson tomorrow and try to help more people. We just don’t yet realize the possible magnitude of destruction.

“People are angry with the Russians, they don’t know why they blew up the dam. There is no point.’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a Vatican peace envoy on Tuesday that the destruction of the Kakhovka dam would have “serious consequences” for people and wildlife.

“This crime poses enormous threats and will have serious consequences for people’s lives and the environment,” he told Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi when the two met in Kiev, according to a presidency statement.

Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of attacks on the dam, and last October Zelensky predicted that Russia would destroy the dam to cause a flood.

The dam and the hydroelectric power plant were captured by Putin’s forces as a matter of priority at the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 last year. Russian officials claimed that the dam had been attacked by Ukrainian military strikes.

The World Data Center for Geoinformatics and Sustainable Development – a Ukrainian non-governmental organization – estimated that a total of nearly 100 towns and cities would be flooded.

Red Cross volunteers drive a car down a flooded street in Kherson as a resident in rolled-up pants watches

The roof of a house is seen in the Dnipro River as the floodwaters flow through southern Ukraine

Zelensky will now urgently convene his Security Council after the explosion at the dam providing vital cooling at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The explosion at the dam has raised concerns about a possible meltdown of the plant if the reactors cannot be cooled.

Zelensky said Russian troops should be driven “from every corner” of his country in the aftermath of the alleged attack.

Officials in Kiev claimed that Moscow destroyed the dam to delay the long-awaited counter-offensive.