Beaches in the Odessa region of southern Ukraine have been closed to the public after being flooded with filthy waters from the dam that broke two weeks ago, as they pose a “genuine threat” to local residents.
The death toll from the June 6 collapse of the Russian-controlled New Kakhovka dam has risen to 45, with both sides giving updates on the dead.
The collapse destroyed villages, flooded agricultural areas and cut off power and clean water for tens of thousands of people.
Floodwaters are receding, but debris washed up by the Dnipro River – which flows into the Black Sea – has turned Odessa’s coast into a “garbage dump and animal cemetery”, according to Ukrainian authorities.
“The beaches of Odessa have been declared unsuitable for bathing due to a significant worsening of water conditions in open water areas (sea, estuary) and a genuine threat to the health of residents,” Odessa City Hall said in a post on Telegram on Sunday. (18).
Odessa’s stretch of sandy beaches and holiday resorts was famous for Ukrainian and foreign tourists before of the invasion of Russia.
The beaches had already been abandoned by bathers in recent months, as land mines appeared on the coast.
Officials warned of declining water quality in a Telegram post on Saturday, saying lab tests had “identified infectious agents over the past week”.
Traces of salmonella and worm eggs and larvae were found in the water, which also “significantly” exceeded permitted levels of E coli.
“The presence of all these biological pathogens in the water of open water areas in the Odessa region, including the Black Sea, the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi estuary and the Danube River, constitutes a genuine threat to the life and health of the population,” he added. The city hall.
Authorities announced that Odessa residents were also banned from selling fish and seafood from “unidentified fishing grounds” near markets and shopping centers.
On Sunday, health authorities in the southern city of Mykolaiv also warned residents not to drink tap water, swim or fish after contaminants were found in the water there.
Similar strains of Vibrio cholerae, which causes cholera, have been detected in open waters off Mykolaiv, the regional center for Disease Control and Prevention reported on its official Facebook account on Sunday. The agent can cause acute intestinal infections.
The disease control center also warned that ammonia levels in the Dnipro-Buh estuary “exceed the maximum allowable concentrations”.
UN censures Russia
On Sunday, the United Nations condemned Russia for blocking access to humanitarian aid to occupied areas of southern Ukraine that have been affected by the dam collapse.
“The UN has been in discussions with the Governments of Ukraine and the Russian Federation regarding the effective delivery of humanitarian aid to all people affected by the devastating destruction of the Kakhovka Dam,” said Denise Brown, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, in a statement.
“The government of the Russian Federation has so far refused our request for access to areas under its temporary military control.”
The UN urged Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
“Help cannot be withheld from people who need it,” added Brown.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for international support to help rescue victims of the dam collapse in Russian-occupied territory and accused the Russian government of not providing “any real help to people in the flooded areas”.
Russian-backed officials in occupied parts of Ukraine said the government would provide “maximum” support to the affected areas, and that humanitarian aid was being distributed.
On Thursday, Andrey Alekseenko, head of the Russian-backed Kherson regional government, said that humanitarian and financial aid was being delivered to the affected areas.
It remains unclear whether the Nova Kakhovka dam was deliberately targeted or whether a structural failure may have caused it to break.
Ukraine’s government says Russia blew up the dam “in a panic” in the face of a planned Ukrainian counter-offensive, while Russia accuses Ukraine of launching “massive artillery attacks” on the structure to deprive Crimea of water and provide a distraction from the battle field.
At least 16 people were killed and 31 missing in floods caused by the breach, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
In addition, 3,614 people were evacuated from the flooded areas “including 474 children and 80 people with reduced mobility”.
In a Telegram post the same day, Moscow-backed Alekseenko said 29 people had died in Russian-controlled territory.
The area around the dam is one of the most disputed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The city of Kherson, which lies on the west bank of the Dnipro River, was liberated by the Ukrainian military in November after eight months of Russian occupation.
But much of the east bank of the river south of the dam remains under Russian control.
The reservoir supplies water to large areas of southern Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.
Source: CNN Brasil
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