Moment desperate flooded Ukrainian family are saved - after being given bottled water by drone

8 June 2023, 10:07 | Updated: 8 June 2023, 10:33

Drone footage has captured the moment a desperate Ukrainian family were saved after the dam in Nova Kakhovka was destroyed.

Ukrainian defenders were able to get the family some bottled water from a drone while they remained trapped in their home, interior ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on Twitter.

A drone, which was sent out to see the scale of catastrophe, captured a woman leaning out of her window and waving for help.

Despite not being able to carry a lot of weight, the precision of the machine meant it was able to deliver emergency bottles of water to those inside.

The family has since been rescued, with Mr Gerashchenko saying: "I posted earlier that they were begging for help and our Defenders were able to get them some bottled water from a drone.

"They are currently safe."

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Meanwhile, another clip showed a woman in Kherson sharing the horrors Russia had caused since it invaded Ukraine.

"We endured it. We did not want to leave our hometown. We thought a counter-offensive would start, Russians would be thrown back and everything would be ok," she said.

"What did Russians do? They blew up the Kakhova dam to drown us here.

"They failed to finish us off, so they decided to drown us!"

It comes amid warnings that a crisis of global food security could occur if the Ukrainian fields turn into deserts, as the dam’s destruction has stopped the water supply to nearly 600,000 hectares of agricultural land.

The lack of water supply to this land endangers the production of four million tonnes of grains and crops exported from Ukraine, Ukraine’s agricultural ministry wrote.

They also said: “The fields in the south of Ukraine may turn into deserts as early as next year.

“In total, according to preliminary calculations, the losses from the death of all biological resources will amount to [$285m dollars],” it concluded.

The statement also noted that the surrounding countryside and water supplies have also been destroyed and fish stock killed.

Ukraine is globally one of the major producers of grain and oils, which means without the maintenance of agricultural land, worldwide food supplies could be majorly affected.

Read more: Hundreds of zoo animals killed in Ukraine flood after 'dam blown up by Russians' as 'only ducks and swans survive'

Mykhailo Podolyak, a chief advisor to President Zelenksy told The Independent: “The instantaneous death of a large number of fish and animals, the waterlogging of drained lands and the change in the climatic regime of the region will later be reflected in the food security of the world.”

The Nova Kakhovka dam provides water for a number of communities upstream, but many people were urged to seek shelter on high ground.

Both Ukraine and Russia have been quick to point fingers at the other for the flooding.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the bursting of the Nova Kakhovka dam as "an environmental bomb of mass destruction” and said the only guarantee against new “terrorist” acts is liberating Ukraine.

“Such deliberate destruction by the Russian occupiers and other structures of the hydroelectric power station is an environmental bomb of mass destruction,” he said as he pointed to Russia as responsible for the dam’s collapse.

He also said his government is doing "all we can to save people" and that he had ordered an evacuation.

Read more: 'We are moving forward, destroying the enemy': Ukraine adviser admits attacks as Kyiv tight-lipped on counter-offensive

Read more: Ukrainians 'frustrated' at allegations they're responsible for dam explosion, according to aid worker

Ukraine described the destruction as an act of terror carried out by Russia, saying the dam was blown up "from inside" at 2.50am local time.

Vladimir Leontyev of the Russian authorities said in a video message: “This crime cannot be written off. This is a terrorist act directed against civilians, Ukrainians did it.

“The water continues to mount. An evacuation is being carried out of civilians from the adjacent flooded zones to preserve all lives. There is no panic in the town.” Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of targeting the dam with attacks and in October, Mr Zelenskyy predicted Russia would destroy the dam in order to cause a flood.

The UK's Ministry of Defence, which regularly issues updates about the war, said the Kakhovka reservoir was at "record high" water levels before the breach.

While the dam was not entirely washed away, the MoD warned that its structure "is likely to deteriorate further over the next few days, causing additional flooding".

Together with the power station, the dam helps provide electricity, irrigation and drinking water to a wide section of southern Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Government and UN officials have warned of a human and ecological disaster whose repercussions will take days to assess and far longer to recover from.

Ukrainian forces were widely seen to be moving forward with a long-anticipated counteroffensive in patches along more than 621 miles of front line in the east and south.