Ever since the onset of the large-scale invasion, Yevheniya hasn’t moved out of Kherson. She, her spouse, and their child reside in Ostriv, a neighborhood that was utterly flooded following the detonation of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.
Yevheniya recounts her experiences, “Our home is on the first floor. The flood left everything in our apartment in a state that rendered it useless: waterlogged furniture, appliances, sofas, bedding, and clothing. The water in our rooms rose 70 centimeters above the floor.
We received the news of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station explosion on June 6, which triggered us into hurriedly packing up. We took only the bare essentials, including my child’s school necessities. We both left wearing our casual house attire. We came back around one o’clock in the afternoon to collect the items we missed out, only to find our neighborhood was already filling with water.
The following day, my husband attempted to revisit our house by boat. When he saw the water reaching up to the window level, he turned around.”
As the water levels began to recede, the family returned to their home. Like the entire neighborhood, their apartment reeked of sewage and decayed fish, and everything was coated with silt and mud. Yevheniya continues, “We started drying what we could, throwing the rest away. Currently, we don’t have anything to sleep on; we are in need of mattresses and folding beds.”
Our Foundation delivered one of the 256 food packages we distributed to the Kherson citizens on June 11 to Yevheniya’s family. This effort was part of the project titled Addressing the Immediate Multi-Sectoral Humanitarian Needs of IDPs and Conflict-Affected Populations Inside Ukraine. We are presently seeking ways to extend help to other city residents affected by the dam explosion.
This project is a collaborative effort with the Response Consortium, a coalition of organizations that have been carrying out a multi-sectoral humanitarian intervention for the past 12 months to cater to the acute and urgent requirements of the Ukrainian population affected by the conflict. This initiative has been financially supported by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services” is the implementing partner of CARE, a consortium member. The content is the sole responsibility of ACTED Ukraine/partner and does not necessarily represent the views of USAID (BHA) or the United States Government.