Russia rejects U.N. aid as dam breach kills more. As the death toll increased and beaches in southern Ukraine were closed due to polluted water from the broken Kakhovka Dam, Moscow rejected U.N. aid.
On June 6, the Moscow-controlled dam collapsed, flooding southern Ukraine and Russia-occupied sections of Kherson, devastating homes, agriculture, and supplies.
The death toll is 52, with Russian officials reporting 35 deaths in Moscow-controlled areas and Ukraine’s interior ministry reporting 17 deaths and 31 missing. Both sides evacuated over 11,000.
The U.N. asked Russia to follow international humanitarian law.
“Aid cannot be denied to people who need it,” U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown said.
Ukraine claims Russia blew up the Soviet-era dam under Russian control in 2022.
International legal specialists assisting Ukraine’s prosecutors stated it was “highly likely” Russian explosives triggered the dam’s collapse.
The Kremlin claimed Kyiv sabotaged the hydroelectric dam, which housed a reservoir the size of the Great Salt Lake.
Odesa banned swimming and eating fish and shellfish from undisclosed sources on its once-popular Black Sea beaches.
“The beaches of Odesa have been declared as unsuitable for swimming due to the significant deterioration of the water… and real danger to health,” Odesa’s administration wrote on Telegram.
Last week’s water testing found alarming amounts of salmonella and other “infectious agents,” Ukrainian officials warned. Cholera was monitored.
After floodwaters receded, the Dnipro River, on which the Kakhovka Dam was built, swept tons of debris into the Black Sea and Odesa’s coastline, inflicting an “ecocide,” according to Ukraine.
Landmines washing ashore will increase the risk of hazardous compounds in sea creatures and on the seabed.
“We can forget about a holiday season for a year,” Ukraine’s Suspilne television quoted Center for Marine Ecology head Viktor Komorin as saying last week.
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