Europe1 .fr with AFP 16:40 p.m., June 20, 2023
Ukraine's interior minister on Tuesday announced the death of a paramedic and eight wounded in a Russian strike in Kherson. According to the prosecutor general's office, the group came under Russian fire while working to repair the damage caused by the destruction of the region's dam on June 6.A paramedic was killed Tuesday and eight others wounded in a Russian strike in Kherson, southern Ukraine, Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said.
"One dead and eight wounded (among) employees of the rescue services in Kherson," he said on Telegram, denouncing evidence of "baseness and fear" on the part of the Russian army. "Emergency care is being provided to the injured," Klimenko added.
READ ALSO – War in Ukraine: Russian and Ukrainian side, bounties distributed to galvanize the troops
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, which confirmed this assessment in a statement and opened an investigation, the "group of rescuers came under Russian fire while working to eliminate the consequences of the floods" caused by the destruction of a dam in the region on June 6.
Rescuers dispatched to the scene
The town of Kherson and some surrounding localities, located 70 km downstream from this dam on the Dnieper River, saw the water rise several meters, killing at least 16 people in Kiev-controlled areas and forcing thousands of civilians to flee the area.
To cope, the authorities have also dispatched hundreds of rescue workers to the scene. The water has continued to ebb since, according to Ukrainian authorities.
READ ALSO – War in Ukraine: the Russian army adapts to the Ukrainian counter-offensive
Kiev and Moscow have accused each other of destroying the Kakhovka Dam, a key infrastructure that supplies water to Russian-annexed Crimea and is on the way for Ukrainian troops to reconquer the occupied territories.