Evacuation from Kherson will last for several more days, the situation is difficult

The evacuation operation in Kherson in connection with the Russian explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant will continue for several more days, the entry of volunteers has been restricted, and residents are urged not to wait for the water to subside and evacuate.

"The rescue operation is actually taking place on the front line. It is absolutely inappropriate to announce the number of people involved in this operation. It is absolutely impossible to report the number of vehicles involved in this area. 

We are not trying to hide it, we want to understand, and we say that there are absolutely enough forces and means now. That is why today the arrival of volunteer aid to Kherson was even limited," said Natalia Gumenyuk, head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Defense Forces of the Operational Command "South".

The Defense Forces assured them that they have everything they need and that more people should not be put at risk because of the shelling by Russian troops.

"Carrying out such evacuation work under a very serious threat of shelling has its own rules. And in order not to create excessive crowds, and not to overload medical facilities and other structures and the Defense Forces, there is a need to dose the incoming aid. 
It will still be needed in the coming days when the resources that are currently being used are exhausted."

On the morning of June 9, the Kherson Regional Military Administration reported: 

"Due to the constant Russian shelling and the deteriorating security situation in Kherson, we ask volunteers with boats who planned to join the rescue operation to refrain from visiting the city. We will inform you separately if we need such assistance! We have enough forces to rescue people and animals from the flooded areas."

The State Emergency Service urged citizens to evacuate immediately from the flooded areas in Kherson Oblast, including the Ostrov neighborhood in Kherson.

Acting Director of the Emergency Response Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Mykhailo Hryb noted that the Ostrov neighborhood is completely flooded, with water reaching the first floors, but "people on the sixth or seventh floors do not want to evacuate."

According to him, they expect the water to subside soon and do not realize how difficult the situation is. 

"The water will go down, but it will be a long process. Rescuers cannot constantly deliver food and water. So we urge everyone to leave the dangerous areas. We have all the forces and means to evacuate people," explained Hryb.

The project «Ukraine: realities» is implemented by the News agency «Konkurent» together with the Civic Movement «SVIDOMI» and the charity organization Global Empowerment Mission in English for readers from other countries to tell the stories of people who survived the horrors of the Russian occupation.

Проєкт «Ukraine: realities» реалізовується Інформаційним агентством «Конкурент» спільно з Громадянським Рухом «СВІДОМІ» та благодійною організацією Global Empowerment Mission на англійській мові для читачів з інших країн аби розповісти історії людей, які пережили жахи російської окупації.