Dam destroyed in Ukraine: Zelensky says he is "shocked" by the lack of international aid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday lamented the lack of humanitarian aid from the United Nations and the Red Cross after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in the south of the country, which caused a serious crisis. "The UN, the United Nations and the representatives of the Red Cross are not there. All these hours, they are still not there," Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview broadcast by German media Welt TV and Bild. He said he was "shocked" that"these are the forces that must be there to save people's lives".

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Tuesday's destruction of the hydroelectric dam in a Russian-controlled area, for which Moscow and Kiev deny responsibility, flooded towns and villages on both banks of the Dnieper River, including neighborhoods in the regional capital, Kherson. Thousands of civilians must be evacuated. The Ukrainian president said he feared "massive environmental damage". In the interview with German media, Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian forces of targeting rescuers trying to provide aid. "As soon as our forces try to get someone out of there, the occupiers shoot at them from a distance."

"From the roofs of flooded houses, people watch the drowned go by," he said. After a telephone conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday evening the sending, "in the next few hours", of "aid to meet the immediate needs" of Ukraine in the face of this disaster. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced a relief coordination meeting on Thursday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. According to the latter, Stoltenberg promised "to activate NATO mechanisms in order to provide humanitarian aid".

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Volodymyr Zelensky said in the interview that he communicated to Ukraine's international partners a year ago information showing that there was a risk that the dam would be targeted. "We communicated this information to our partners and all told us that the risk of the dam exploding was very high," he added.