Volodymyr Zelenskiy has visited the Kherson region that has been impacted by flooding after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam. In a post to Telegram, Ukraine’s president said the main issues discussed during the visit were “the operational situation in the region as a result of the disaster, evacuation of the population from potential flood zones, elimination of the emergency caused by the dam explosion, organisation of life support for the flooded areas”.
Russia on Thursday denied Ukrainian accusations that it backed pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and discriminates against ethnic Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea, accusing Kyiv of “blatant lies” at the UN’s top court.
One of Russia’s longest-serving and most respected human rights campaigners Oleg Orlov went on trial on Thursday, facing the prospect of three years in jail if convicted of repeatedly discrediting Russia’s armed forces, his organisation said.
A group of leading Russian independent media organisations together with Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have called on big tech companies to establish a working group to prevent Russia’s online information shutdown, the Guardian’s Pjotr Sauer reports.
The past few days have brought a very marked intensification of fighting south of Zaporizhzhia in the direction of the key town of Tokmak. While the situation remains highly confused, some Russian military bloggers have been speculating that this might be the beginning of the long anticipated Ukrainian summer offensive, the Guardian’s Peter Beaumont reports.
The cooling pond at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is in danger of collapse as a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and the draining of its reservoir, according to a French nuclear safety organisation, the Guardian’s Julian Borger reports.
The World Health Organization has rushed emergency supplies to flood-hit parts of Ukraine and are preparing to respond to an array of health risks including trauma, drowning and waterborne diseases such as cholera, officials said on Thursday.
Ukraine could lose several million tons of crops because of flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in the south of the country, the Ukrainian agriculture ministry said on Thursday.
Drone footage shows the extent of flooding after the Ukraine dam collapse.