Press Release

Note to correspondents attributable to Saviano Abreu, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ukraine. UN deployed boats to deliver assistance in the Kherson Region

16 June 2023

I am now with my colleagues from the UN Children’s Fund and the World Food Programme in a small village in the rural area of the Kherson Region, about 15 kilometres from the front line.

We came here using four boats to deliver life-saving water and food to around 500 families who are in a dramatic situation - as many of the people here have been enduring the consequences of constant bombardment and now the catastrophic flooding.

The convoy brought food and water, which are the main needs of people here.

The UN and our colleagues from the NGOs have worked non-stop, since day one, to ensure that people impacted by the catastrophe caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam could rapidly receive some support.

We will continue to make every effort to help civilians caught up in the horrors of the war in Ukraine.

Since 6 June, we continued life-saving operations and delivered at least 10 inter-agency convoys with vital items to thousands of people affected by the disaster, in addition to the regular assistance provided separately by UN agencies and NGOs.

On the situation: the fast depletion of the Kakhovka Reservoir, caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam during the early hours of 6 June, is leading to a grim situation in southern Ukraine, where tens of thousands of people have already lost access to piped water, mainly in Dnipropetrovska oblast.

The reservoir – one of the largest in Europe and a source of drinking water to at least 700,000 people – is reportedly decreased by 70 per cent of its capacity, according to Ukrainian authorities. The width of the reservoir decreased from 3 to 1 kilometre, and the water level is now at around 7 meters, below the threshold of 12 meters when it stops working as a water reservoir.

Large urban areas in Dnipropetrovska oblast, including Pokrovska, Nikopolska and Marhanetska, are completely cut off from centralized water, and others like Apostolivska and Zelenodolska have extremely limited access. This has left over 210,000 people, in this area alone, in urgent need of life-saving water, according to estimates from the United Nations and its humanitarian partners.

In Khersonska oblast, flooded areas have reportedly reduced from 620 km2 on 9 June to 180 km2 as of 13 June, according to the preliminary analysis of satellite imagery released by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).

The receding floodwater, however, will likely create new challenges for people already facing humanitarian needs in Ukraine.