Kiev’s attempts to lower water level in Dnieper entail flooding in Kiev

Ukrainian authorities’ attempts to lower the water level in the Dnieper River have resulted in the flooding of Kiev’s residential quarters, Vladimir Leontyev, head of the city of Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson Region, told TASS on Thursday.

"The situation is as follows: for a long time, Ukrainian authorities have been trying to lower the water level [in the Dnieper], evidently seeking to facilitate a counteroffensive by means of making the water barrier not so wide. Well, they got what they wanted. They have flooded themselves because of stemming the flow," he said.

According to Leontyev, residential quarters in Kiev’s Obolon neighborhood have bee flooded. "Now, they are discharging water and the water level in the Kakhovka water reservoir have risen. However, it has not affected us - the water level upstream is only slightly higher than usual," he added.

The Ukrainian media outlet Strana said on Tuesday that the flooding is fraught with huge losses and a serious harm to spring crops. According to Strana, part of the Obolon park, pedestrian subways have been flooded.

Transport links with several settlements in the Chernigov region has been blocked due to the flooding. The situation is difficult in the Zhitomir region, with dams being destroyed and houses being flooded in many villages. Floods are reported in the Kirovograd, Cherkassy, Rovno, Volyn, and Poltava regions.