A Russian Mi-8 helicopter pilot has allegedly surrendered to Ukrainian forces after intel personnel from Kyiv secured safe passage for his family after they left Russia.
Alex Babenko/Getty Images(NEW YORK) At least nine people were killed by the devastating flooding caused by destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in the Kherson region of Ukraine and nine were injured during the shelling the Russians did during the evacuation, local authorities said.
Regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said the average water level is more than 5 meters and around 600 square kilometers are now flooded, mostly on the eastern bank which is occupied by the Russian troops.
The accurate number of wounded from Tuesday s incident may be higher as it s nearly impossible to evacuate people from there, authorities say. The Ukrainian mayor of Oleshky, Tatyana Gasanenko, almost all of which is under water now, said 30 people were rescued and hospitalized with hypothermia.
"It s a situation of despair," she told ABC News. "People were sitting on the rooftops for hours. They said the Russians just ran away."
The Nova Kakhovka dam, which was built in 1956 and