The largest city in central Ukraine is Kryvyi Rih. The city had an estimated population of 650,000 before the war. The special feature of the city is that it is the birthplace of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. Eight Russian cruise missiles hit the city on Wednesday, officials said. News from Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a reservoir dam was damaged by Russian airstrikes in his hometown, Al-Jazeera reported. Officials urged residents in the area to evacuate safely.
The attacks hit the dam of the Karachunov Reservoir.
Zelensky called Russia a ‘terrorist state’ in a video message released Thursday morning. He also said the water system has ‘no military value’ and hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on it every day.
Oleksandr Vikul, head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration, said in a statement: ‘I have requested the residents of certain streets to evacuate to avoid unnecessary risk.’
In a post on Telegram, Vikul said 112 houses were flooded after the dam broke and repairs are underway on the Inhulets River.
Kirill Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said in an online post that there were no civilian casualties in the attack.
Al-Jazeera’s correspondent reported from Kiev that the dam was attacked. But it is unclear why the Russians would target the dam. However, it seems that the attack was carried out here because of Zelensky’s birth place.
(September 15)