Denise Brown, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinatorassured Dmytro Kuleba that UN organizations and other humanitarian partners delivered water, food and cash for those who have been displaced or are suffering from the effects of the dam bursting and the collapse of the important hydroelectric power station in the south-eastern region near the city of Kherson.
expanding support
“Plans are currently being made, also in cooperation with the authorities of the area, to achieve this larger areas affected by flooding as soon as possibleOnce the military deems it safe, given the risks of fast-moving water moving mines and unexploded ordnance to previously cleared areas, it is considered cleared,” read a press release from her office.
The meeting came after widely publicized and critical comments made by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday to the UN and other major humanitarian organizations working in Ukraine, saying initial relief efforts had been insufficient.
“The The United Nations is committed to reaching out to all Ukrainians in need on both sides of the riverThe UN-Ukraine press release said, referring to the Dnipro River, which serves as a front line between the Russian occupiers on the left bank and the Ukrainian government’s territory opposite.
Repeated requests for access to relief supplies
The UN has “access and security guarantees that are repeatedly demanded‘, particularly by Russian commanders who currently control the areas reportedly being worst hit by the floods.
“We have not been given that access nor the necessary security guarantees for the humanitarian personnel and the people they would be helping there,” the statement continued.
In a tweet published on Thursday, the UN Coordinating Office for Assistance to Ukraine said: OCHA, stressed that the UN and its partners had provided food for 18,000 people; more than 100,000 bottles of water, cash for 5,000 people in need; Thousands of hygiene kits, including special items for the elderly; and mobile health and psychosocial support.
Due to the massive flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, stranded people are being evacuated from residential areas.
Concerns about Zaporizhia nuclear power plant remain: IAEA
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhia, which is relatively close to the ruined dam and the huge reservoir that now flows into the river, relies on water from there for its cooling system.
The UN Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, said there was There is still concern that the water level in its reserves could drop so low that it could no longer be pumped to the site to cool the reactors.
“As the full extent of the damage to the dam is still unknown, Whether and when this will be the case cannot be predicted. However, if the current fall rate continues, the 12.7 meter mark could be reached within the next two days,” the IAEA said in a statement.
build reserves
To prepare for such a possibility, the agency said it “continuously replenishes its water reserves — including the large cooling pond adjacent to the facility, as well as its smaller sprinkler cooling ponds and adjacent canals — by fully utilizing the waters of the Kakhovka reservoir.” “that remains possible.”
“It is It is important that the integrity of both the ZNPP cooling basin and the ZTPP spillway is maintained. This is vital to ensure the plant has sufficient water to provide the site with the necessary cooling for the coming months,” said General Manager Rafael Mariano Grossi.
He plans to travel to the power plant next week to assess the situation after the dam damage and monitor compliance the five basic principles for protecting the ZNPP he submitted to the United Nations Security Council on the 30th of May.
He also pledged to increase the IAEA’s presence at the site, currently occupied by Russians but manned locally, and to replace the current team with a larger group traveling with him across the front lines.
UNICEF is providing humanitarian assistance to passengers arriving in Mykolaiv on the first evacuation train from Kherson, Ukraine.
