Dozens of people on an island in the Dnieper River were forced to flee as floodwaters rose due to the breach of a dam upstream. As shelling from Russia’s war on Ukraine echoed overhead, evacuees climbed onto the tops of military trucks or into rafts. Officials on both sides of the conflict accused each other of purposely causing the disaster. The island neighborhood was one residential area in the direct slipstream of the catastrophe, and it could take days to know the full extent of the damage. At least 16,000 people have already lost their homes, and Amnesty International’s regional director for Eastern Europe has called it a “huge humanitarian disaster.” The international community must work together to bring those responsible to justice.
Ukraine dam breach triggers chaotic citizens’ scramble to escape floodwaters.
