Kakhovka Dam’s Destruction Leaves Many Without Normal Access to Drinking Water, Says Zelenskiy

A woman cries as she is evacuated from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was blown up. (AP)
A woman cries as she is evacuated from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was blown up. (AP)
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Kakhovka Dam’s Destruction Leaves Many Without Normal Access to Drinking Water, Says Zelenskiy

A woman cries as she is evacuated from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was blown up. (AP)
A woman cries as she is evacuated from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 after the Kakhovka dam was blown up. (AP)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine had left hundreds of thousands of people without normal access to drinking water.

Floodwaters in southern Ukraine were expected to crest on Wednesday and tens of thousands of civilians were fleeing areas affected by the dam's collapse on Tuesday, which Zelenskiy blamed on Russia. Moscow blamed it on Ukraine.

"The destruction of one of the largest water reservoirs in Ukraine is absolutely deliberate ... Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without normal access to drinking water," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Officials said that parts of the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions in the south and southeast of Ukraine would suffer from disrupted water supplies.

"The top priority now is to provide water to the regions affected by the Russian terrorist attack", Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote on Twitter.

Ukraine's Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure said the government had decided to provide 1.5 billion hryvnias ($41 million) for construction of a pipeline with a capacity of about 300,000 cubic meters of water per day.

The total length of the new water pipeline would be 87 km (54 miles), the agency said.

The health ministry warned of potential health hazards because of chemicals in the water, and urged residents to drink only bottled and safe water, and to use safe water when cooking.



Switzerland to Enact Hamas Ban from May 15

FILED - 08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighters of the Ezz al-Din Al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas form a corridor as Israeli hostages get delivered to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
FILED - 08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighters of the Ezz al-Din Al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas form a corridor as Israeli hostages get delivered to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
TT

Switzerland to Enact Hamas Ban from May 15

FILED - 08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighters of the Ezz al-Din Al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas form a corridor as Israeli hostages get delivered to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
FILED - 08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighters of the Ezz al-Din Al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas form a corridor as Israeli hostages get delivered to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

A new Swiss law banning Hamas and related organizations will come into force on May 15, the government said on Wednesday, aiming to prevent the Palestinian militant group from using Switzerland as a safe haven by making entry bans or expulsions easier to arrange.
The law, which was approved by parliament last December and came in the wake of Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, gives Swiss authorities "the necessary tools to take action against Hamas activities or support for the organization in Switzerland," the government said, according to Reuters.
The Gaza war started after Hamas' attack which killed 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's offensive on the enclave has killed more than 52,000, according to local Palestinian health officials.
The Swiss law enables preventive police measures such as entry bans or expulsions, and also makes it more difficult for Hamas to use Switzerland as a financial hub for its activities.