Zelensky: International organizations must join rescue efforts in occupied parts of Kherson Oblast.
International organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, must begin rescue efforts in the occupied parts of flooded Kherson Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said[1] on June 7. "It is so far impossible to determine with certainty how many people in the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson Oblast may die without rescue, without drinking water, without food, without medical assistance," Zelensky added. According to Zelensky, large-scale efforts by international organizations are needed.
"Every dead person there is a sentence to the existing international architecture, to international organizations that have forgotten how to save lives. If now there is no international organization in the zone of this disaster, it means that it does not exist at all, which means that it's ineffective." Ukraine's officials reported[2] that Russian occupation authorities are not helping flood victims and are even hindering their evacuation.
Russia destroyed[3] the Kakhovka dam on June 6, triggering a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster, particularly in Kherson Oblast.
Martin Fornusek
News Editor
Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.
Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.