Muddy, muddy waters are already reaching its rooftops Peninsulaon South Ukraine and rescuers make great efforts to evacuate residents using small boats and amphibians. Some of them don’t even have ID anymore.

“We don’t have a home anymore. The water covered him to the roof. We can’t even see the roof,” the 46-year-old said. Dmitry Melnikovleaving the amphibian with his five children. “The whole area is now under water. The level is above ground level,” he said, holding his little daughter by the hand.

Hydroelectric disaster Kakhovka dam, on the Dnieper River, caused flooding both on the Ukrainian-controlled side, where the city of Kherson is located, and on the Russian-occupied territories on the right bank. Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for the disaster and proceed to evacuate.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, the waters of the Dnieper they have risen five meters and the level may rise even more during the day.

Police, rescuers and soldiers were mobilized to evacuate the residents, mostly the elderly, who remained in the area, as well as pets. Some residents of Kherson took the situation into their own hands and dived into the water. The man preferred to row on an inflatable sea mattress.

OUR Natalya KortsA 68-year-old woman smiles as she disembarks barefoot and wet onto hard ground with the help of lifeguards. “All my things are under water. The fridge floats, the freezer, everything,” he said.

OUR old woman she was forced to sail to get away from her home. Legs scratched, hands shaking from the cold. “We are used to bombings, but this is a natural disaster, a real nightmare,” she continued, expressing her fears for her animals. two dogs and a catwhich she left because she herself could not save them.

“Coastal residents tell us their whereabouts, if possible, and we pick them up,” said Sergi, a 38-year-old police officer involved in coordinating the rescue operation.

OUR Svetlana Abramovich56, organizes the rescue of 22 residents stuck in a five-story building whose first floor was flooded. “Water came last night and after 18 hours flooded the building and the yard. Water got through the doors to the apartments on the first floor,” he said.

Some of the rescued smile as they reach safety, others tremble and cry. They almost do not react to the air raid siren, since Kherson is very often bombed by Russian troops. “There is water there. Here, explosions“, – says Svetlana.

Dmitry, in turn, does not care about the bombing, he says that he is used to it. But he decided to leave the city.

“We have been here since the beginning of the war, survived the occupation (of the city by the Russians). But now we have no home, nothing, no work. We don’t want to leave, but what can we do? explains.

A man wrapped in a blanket hugs his cat. A woman in a floral print dress and sunglasses tries to restrain a nervous gray and white cat.

Volunteers take families to the train station, where some take a free bus to a nearby town. Mycolife. There, the train is waiting for the rescued.

However, many prefer to stay in Kherson and neighboring villages, hoping that the water level will drop.

OUR Sergey TrofimovThe 34-year-old volunteer of the Proliska humanitarian organization has been working at the railway station since morning, helping people find transport. “They want to wait until the level drops, for him they don’t want to go too far. They want to return to their homes as soon as possible,” he said.