More than 30 people died on Nizhnyaya Street in Oleshki during the flood, volunteer Elena told The Insider, citing data from residents. “This street has already gone to the bottom, the chances of saving someone there are very small,” she added.
“The [Russian] Ministry of Emergency Situations is blocking the way for our volunteers and boatmen, and the situation is heading towards disaster. They are afraid of the DRG (sabotage and reconnaissance groups), and do not hide it. They are now all in fear, they are shooting at settlements that are under water. They came to one of the settlements, took away people with Russian passports, but did not let them go anywhere else. They were taken to dry zones in the center of Oleshki and drove on. I get this information directly from relatives and neighbors.”
According to Elena, Russian rescuers check the documents of residents, and they do not help those who present Ukrainian passports. Volunteers who are trying to get into the city on their boats are offered to give them to representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. According to Elena, the water in Oleshki "stopped at a critical level", and in the settlements located in the direction of Golay Pristan, it continues to rise.
Mayor Oleshek Evgeny Ryshchuk said that he knew at least three dead. Also on July 8, he wrote on his Telegram channel that the Russians fired on the building of school No. 2, in which there are people fleeing the flood.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky told foreign journalists that many people had died on the left, occupied, bank of the Dnieper and that residents, sitting on rooftops, see bodies floating by. According to him, the Ukrainian military is trying to help people on the left bank, but they are being fired upon by Russian troops who control this territory.
The Russia-appointed “head” of Novaya Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontiev, on June 8 admitted the death of five residents of the Kherson region. Another 60 people are hospitalized . The head of the occupation administration of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, wrote on his Telegram channel on June 8 that 4,300 people, including 171 children, had been evacuated from the disaster zone. At the same time, even the day before, he said on television that only children were being evacuated, while adults refused to leave and were calmly waiting for the water to subside.
On the eve of The Insider, two more volunteers told The Insider about the fact that the Russian military and employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations do not allow volunteer rescuers into the disaster zone. They say they are trying to remotely coordinate people in the disaster area so that those with boats help others get to dry areas.