The floods have hit the Russian-occupied Kherson region particularly badly.
Drones have played a significant role in the war in Ukraine, and now they have found a new purpose in the flooded area of southern Ukraine.
Videos of Ukrainian drones helping people trapped in Russian-occupied territories are spreading on social media.
In the videos, Ukrainian drones drop bottles of water to the residents of the Russian-occupied town of Oleškyi. The city is located on the opposite bank of the city of Hersoni.
Oleškyi is one of the towns worst affected by the flood and it seems to be completely submerged. About 25,000 inhabitants lived in the city before the war.
Theater director from Kherson Oleksandr Knyga tells on the phone that the situation in Oleškyi is really bad. He gets information from his relatives in town.
– It’s a terrible situation there, people are sitting on the roofs of houses. Some people are trying to get to dry land.
Knyga says that the Russian soldiers are fleeing from the scene and will not help with the evacuations. According to him, Russian soldiers had been seen in the city driving a boat in the afternoon.
– Maybe they are trying to get to the forest on dry land, they have a base there. It seems that they were not warned in advance and that this came as a surprise to them as well.
Knyga says that the mines that drift with the flood are dangerous, especially in Kherson, which is occupied by Russia.
– The entire opposite shore was one minefield and now they are all drifting in the water. It makes possible rescue operations even more dangerous.
According to Knyga, the water has risen about two meters in Oleškyi. Knyga says that the water has not yet reached the second floor of a relative’s house.
– Fortunately, I managed to warn my relative in advance, he has water for two days. Now we are collecting generators and other supplies in case there is an opportunity to row to the other side.