Flood crisis in Alyosha: Volunteers struggle to evacuate 5,000 people trapped in the Russian-occupied town

According to volunteer Anna (name changed at her request for security reasons), who coordinated one of the chats for the evacuation of residents of the Russian-occupied city of Alyosha in Kherson region, volunteers received requests for help from 1,500 addresses, the Russian Service quoted her as saying on the BBC.

Anna says about five thousand people are waiting to be evacuated in Alyosha, a town that was submerged after the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant broke down.

“There are 1500 points on the map, at each point there are on average 3-5 people – there are places where there is one person, there are groups of 10-15 people. That is the figure of those who are in the flood zone is at least 5 thousand people “, Anna tells the BBC.

According to her, the most requests are from elderly people and families with children, many also with animals. 500 people “are already in the water” and need to be evacuated urgently, says Anna.

Volunteers managed to save more than 200 people yesterday.

Some streets are completely submerged. “And if there were people alive there yesterday, today no one has survived there, that is, the clock is ticking – people are drowning, dying of hypothermia and dehydration,” says Anna.

The evacuation of people is complicated by the lack of communications and the lack of humanitarian aid, as well as shelling and “the lack of a clear response from the Ministry of Emergencies [окупационните власти]”. Anna also claims that the Russian military does not allow volunteers arriving from Crimea to enter the disaster zone.

“Now most of the locals are volunteers on the spot. They were partially provided with boats: those that were bought for a fee from those who are not indifferent, or they got them for free. And a few (boats) were found on the spot,” says Anna in a conversation with the BBC.

The occupation authorities of the Kherson region claim to have sent operational teams of the Ministry of Emergency Situations to Alyosha to evacuate residents. But residents of the town spoken to by independent media, including the BBC, complained about the lack of any help from the authorities and noted the work of volunteer groups.