Until water recedes. How people survive in flooded part of Kherson
Larysa Dmytrivna and Serhii Petrovych Zharkov have been married for 50 years, have two grown-up sons, grandchildren and a cat named Fedya. They have lived together all their lives in Kherson, survived the Russian occupation here together, and now they are stuck in their sixth-floor apartment building, waiting for the "high water" to subside. After the Russians blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station on 6 June, there was water near their house by lunchtime. Although people did not believe until the last moment that the disaster would reach them.
"I didn't even have time to go to my garage. And I have a lot of supplies there, a good quality cauldron, I could cook soup over a fire in it," says Sergey Petrovich.
There were pensioners in the building who did not want to evacuate. Many of them are visually or hearing impaired, some have limited mobility, and Kateryna has not left her apartment for 12 years. On 6 June, her sister Valentyna came to visit her, but she was unable to leave because the house was surrounded by water.
"We have received a request from the OIA. Address___. There are 15 pensioners in the house, they refuse to evacuate. They ask us to bring food and drinking water (not for cooking, because there is no communication). Phone number ___", - this request was received by the Red Cross branch in Kherson. The unit immediately began to process it and prepare the boat with help.
"Yes, 15 loaves of bread, canned food, pate, goulash," Natalia is in charge of the process, she's the boss. "Where are you taking the dry soups? They don't have hot water, Kolya!
-They will find it! Let them burn the church!
-Where? -There's water everywhere! Bring back these soups! Don't forget to put the hygiene!"
Loading up the car, Mykola, who everyone here calls Kokha, complains that their volunteers are not allowed on the water: "After the death of the rescuers, they said that only the SES has the right to be on the water. And there are not enough of them (SES rescuers - ed.) for everyone. There are people and dogs howling, and we have no right to save them."
Together with Kokha and Inna, who also works for the "Cross", we were going to unload. But the Russian military started shelling Kherson with heavy artillery, and Korabelnaya Square came under fire. It was then that civilians were being evacuated there. Pedestrians immediately started to scramble for shelter. "Immediately close the car and run!" - Kocha shouted at me. I nervously pressed the lock button on the car keys, but the electronics didn't work on purpose. As soon as we ran for cover, shells started falling nearby.
"Today we won't be able to go to the grandmothers. But we will try tomorrow," Koch concluded.
Indeed, after that, the police and military categorically did not allow journalists, volunteers or amateur rescuers to go on the water, explaining that it was dangerous because of the shelling and the rules of behaviour on the water. However, people swam to help the people of Kherson with or without permits, volunteers travelled from all over the country and found boats, boats and motors for them. An improvised evacuation point was set up in every place where the water bordered the land and a boat could be launched.
All day long, wet, frightened and hungry animals are unloaded from the boats, and elderly people, sometimes in wheelchairs, are helped to get ashore. Crying, laughing, words of gratitude, barking, the sound of dozens of boats' engines...
"Take us on the next evacuation, please," I ask a young man of about 25. I find out that his name is Vlad, he is from Kyiv and came to Kherson with animal volunteers to take out animals.
"Look, we have to pick up another dog, so you can come with us. But we need to find a proper captain, because with ours we got tangled in the trees three times and almost capsized. If you find a captain, we'll go. But it's already six o'clock in the evening. There is a curfew at 20.00. We have to hurry," Vlad said.
Having found two captains at once, loaded two boats with bottles of water, food and a large cage, we set off in search of the dog. The motor was constantly stalling, the captain (Denys, a professional captain from Kherson) was swearing loudly, but he started it and took us further.
The apocalyptic picture was shocking, we were walking at roof level, we could reach the tram wires with our hands, which were de-energised. We managed to unload water to the people, but the dog was nowhere to be found, the shelling continued, and it was getting dark outside. Mosquitoes were ruthlessly drinking our blood.
The second boat we started with was already on the shore. Ours landed on the roof of one of the flooded houses and got tangled in the wires of a TV antenna. The curfew began.
"Take the wire cutters and cut the wire. You take the paddle and push off the roof. What an adventure! It's okay, we'll get out now," the captain reassured us. We reached land around 10 pm. The military on the shore were not very happy to see us so late, but they let us go home.
Surrounded by water. Or how we fried cutlets on the balcony
In the morning, we had to swim out and deliver aid to pensioners in a flooded house. The water level had dropped to about half a metre, but it didn't really change the situation. That day, I was with two professional captains who sail on international ships and now volunteer on boats in their native Kherson. We went down to the water in a completely different place, one might say "illegally", because the ban on allowing civilians on the water was still in force.
-"Dear friends, the order is not to let anyone in," the soldiers stop our car.
-"We know, but we deliver aid to pensioners and people with limited mobility. I'm from Kherson, I know every street here. Guys, we've been on the water for two days, let us go," says one of the captains, Oleksandr.
-"And who is this?" he points to me.
-"This is a paramedic. The girl is with us, she will examine the old people. We can't do it without her.
-"All right, guys. Just make it quick, load up, hide the car, and sail away immediately so that no one sees you and there is no crowd."
Half an hour later, we docked at the entrance we needed.
It was here that I met Larisa Dmitrievna and Sergey Petrovich. No one wants to leave. "Where will we go, baby, everything will be fine soon, the water will go down and everything will be as it was before," was the answer I heard from every resident of this house. The water was up to the first floor, but it was too deep to even walk between the entrances.
Having packed bags of food for everyone, I began to deliver them to their apartments. Some of them came for them themselves. Alla Oleksandrivna lives alone on the fifth floor, her husband is dead. "I'm strong, I don't whine, only my arms are shaking and my leg hurts because I fell. But I used to be beautiful. Now I can't even wash and clean myself up." Her story was interrupted by the sound of artillery.
- Hello Alexandrovna, you'd better move away from the window. This is the exit. Someone is coming," I warn the woman. Two seconds later, indeed, an explosion thundered not far away.
-"Wow, how do you know all this? Stay here tonight!
I stayed the night, but with Ms Larysa and Mr Serhii. But before that, we had dinner with fried cutlets, which we cooked over a fire right on the balcony of the sixth floor. The fridges were frozen and we had to do something with the meat immediately. So Larisa Dmitrievna and Valentina prepared minced meat. Sergei Petrovich made a fire, and the broken furniture was used for firewood. I was responsible for the frying.
While cooking, they talked about the Russian occupation. The residents of this house, just like now during the flooding, did not leave. "They couldn't smoke us out with fire, so they decided to use water," says Serhii Petrovych. - "But they didn't really touch us. What could they take from us? They went from apartment to apartment and checked if any ATO soldiers lived here."
Valentyna says that the Armed Forces of Ukraine gave her the best birthday present ever - the liberation of Kherson on 11 November. "I will never forget this moment," she recalls with tears in her eyes, "Even with the shelling, life is better than during the occupation.
Before we went to bed, we (me, Sergey Petrovich and Vladimir, another resident of this house) went up to the roof of the nine-storey building. From here we could see the entire flooded area. At that time, the artillery shelling started again. Shells fall into the water, raising a huge spray column high above the buildings. According to Volodymyr, a rocket had already hit this house. It exploded just to the left of his apartment, hitting the lift shaft. It's time to go down, because it's getting dangerous.
In the morning, I was woken up by a quarrel between Larisa Dmitrievna and Fedya the cat, who sometimes bit her. Serhiy Petrovych was sitting in his armchair listening to the morning news on the radio, the only device that was still working and allowed him to get a sense of the situation around him. It turned out that I had slept through the nighttime artillery shelling, which lasted almost two hours.
"While you were sleeping, grandpa had already brought water from the street for the toilet," says Larysa. "And that 'fascist' (referring to Fedya) bit me again. Go wash your face and we'll have breakfast."
For breakfast, we had yesterday's cutlets with bread and cold water coffee.
"Do you realise that the water will not go away in two days?" I asked. - It will take much longer. And then it is still unknown when the utilities will be connected.
-"We'll bear it," the Zharkovs answer uncompromisingly. "Just tell them to bring some food for the cat, because there's not much left. If you can, of course. And you, when the water goes down, come to us again, we'll be glad to see you."
***
While this may sound a bit romantic, the reality is horrific. Kherson, which has survived the occupation, is undergoing daily shelling and is now flooded. However, this case has once again shown how the country can unite and throw all its resources at helping the victims. The huge kilometre-long queues of buses and trucks near Chornobaivka to enter Kherson, where I was also standing, are proof of this. People were launching boats to rescue fellow citizens and animals despite all the prohibitions. Journalists sailed to the flooded areas to show the consequences of the disaster caused by the Russians. And now it is important not to leave Kherson with its problems when the water recedes.
Iryna Sampan, for Censor.NET
