BERLIN (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed shock at what he said was the failure of the United Nations and the Red Cross to help after the destruction of the massive Kakhovka dam as his prime minister called for aid from international agencies.
Although the catastrophe happened many hours ago, “they aren’t here”, Zelenskiy told German newspapers Bild and Die Welt and also Politico. “We have had no response. I am shocked.”
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal urged international humanitarian organisations to provide urgent assistance.
“The Russian occupiers don’t even make an effort to help these people, they have left them to perish,” Denys Shmyhal said in English in a video posted on Telegram.
“We appeal to you to take charge of evacuating people from the territory of Kherson oblast occupied by Russia. We must save the lives of people whom the occupiers have condemned to death.”
In his interview, Zelenskiy said Russian soldiers were shooting from a distance while rescue attempts were in progress.
“As soon as our helpers try to save them, they are shot at,” he was quoted as saying.
Zelenskiy later said on Telegram he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron about the environmental and humanitarian situation in the Kherson region.
“I laid out Ukraine’s general needs in dealing with the disaster. And we discussed the possibility of involving international mechanisms to investigate its causes,” the president said.
“And I discussed the possibility of the IAEA (U.N. nuclear watchdog) and (its chief) Rafael Grossi strengthening control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” he said.
A large cooling pond for the power plant above the reservoir of the burst dam is full and has enough water for several months, the IAEA said on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Madeline Chambers and Ron Popeski; Editing by Gareth Jones and Nick Macfie)
