The number of victims of the June floods in the Kherson region, caused by the destruction of the Kachovka hydroelectric power station by Russian forces, is much higher than reported by Russian and Ukrainian estimates, writes the Associated Press news agency, based on the results of a journalistic investigation.
The authors of the article concluded that the Russian leadership “well and deliberately” underestimated the death toll in the flood that inundated large areas of the temporarily occupied left bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson region. Witnesses interviewed by journalists said that the Russians quickly began to control the issuing of death certificates, immediately took away bodies that were not claimed by the families, prevented doctors and volunteers from examining and preparing the dead for burial, and threatened them when they disobeyed orders.
“Not only Russia, but even Ukraine does not understand the scale of this tragedy. It’s a huge tragedy,” nurse Svitlana, who initially watched the process of collecting death certificates before fleeing to government-controlled territory, told the agency.
According to Russian data, 59 people drowned during the floods in the territory under its control. However, AP journalists concluded that only in the occupied Oleškii, where regarding 16 thousand people lived during the flood. people, the number of victims is estimated to be at least hundreds.
“The exact number of dead – in Oleshkii, the pre-war most densely populated city of the occupied territory, and beyond – may never be known, even if Ukrainian forces regain the territory and can conduct an on-the-spot investigation,” the article reads.
According to three medical workers who kept records of the dead in Oleškii and one volunteer who buried the bodies, the dead were buried in mass graves, and unidentified bodies were taken somewhere and never returned.
In the closed Telegram channel of the correspondence platform with 3,000 residents of Oleškii, people wrote regarding the fact that the bodies were lying on the streets, then the occupiers collected them and took them to unknown places.
Reuters/Scanpix/Evacuation of residents of Kherson
According to Svitlana and Olena, nurses who worked at the Oleški Hospital at the time, the Russians issued a strict order prohibiting the issuance of death certificates caused by floods. However, they were still allowed to issue certificates of other causes of death. The new rule was announced orally.
However, according to witnesses, during the first three days of the flood, when the occupying authorities simply fled Oleškii, people buried the dead themselves.
“The first bodies were buried in the center of the town (near the church), because 90 percent the town was under water. These bodies were not registered at the hospital, no autopsy was performed, no time of death was determined, and they were buried immediately. The bodies were collected and buried in a mass grave to prevent them from decomposing in the streets. After the deoccupation, an exhumation will take place. Then we will be able to investigate everything,” said witnesses and relatives of the victims.
According to doctors’ calculations, a total of 200 to 300 people drowned in Oleškii. Most of them were elderly people who were physically unable to leave the house or climb onto the roof.
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2024-07-18 17:05:07
