The invasion caused a flood in Demidyiv after a Russian attack on a nearby dam. (agent)
Demidyev, Ukraine:
When the flood struck, Maria Didovets couldn’t open the door to leave her home near Kyiv as it brought in more water, so the 82-year-old had to climb out of a window.
In addition to the devastation and death caused by Russian missiles, the invasion has caused flooding in the village of Demidyev following a Russian attack on a nearby dam.
“The water went in. We’re fighting a lot,” said Didovets, who was wearing Wellington boots and standing in ankle-deep water in front of his house, whose basement is still full.
Pumps humming as they sucked water into the basements of dozens of homes, an important location for canned food storage in many homes in Ukraine—yet knee-deep water remained in some places.
The Russian attack affected a dam and a hydroelectric facility in late February, causing a flood of water from Kyiv’s reservoir to parts of Demidyiv, village leader Oleksandr Melnichenko told AFP.
When Russian troops began their push to capture Kyiv in late February, Demidyev – a settlement of closely spaced rows of small houses with gardens – found himself at the center of the battle.
To block the Russian advance, Ukrainian forces blew up the bridge near the village crossing the Irpin River, as they did at other locations near Kyiv.
Demidyev and the road that passes through that bridge leads directly to central Kyiv – it’s about an hour’s drive to the presidential palace.
Unable to cross, the invaders turned in the other direction, with Melnichenko saying they were heading towards Bucha, the city now synonymous with war crimes charges involving Russian soldiers.
“If we hadn’t done that … the Russians would have been shooting from inside Kyiv,” he said, explaining that he was blocked from reaching two more villages on the road to the capital.
He said that as well as destroying the bridge, the authorities had also opened the dam, raising the level of the river by about 30 centimeters (a foot) and making it too wide for the Russians to cross it using a portable pontoon bridge. .
‘No tank, no flood’
But floods later occurred when a projectile hit the dam on February 27, raising the water several meters near the village.
Had it not been for a levy around the shores of the Damdive, the damage would have been far greater than the rush of water to the reservoir.
Although the flood water never actually breached the levee, residents said it seeped out of the ground.
On the levee itself, a flotsam made of sticks and plastic bottles appeared to show a high-water mark beneath the summit of the barrier.
About 60 of the 750 houses in the village were affected by the flood – less than 200 were either damaged or destroyed during the fighting.
But even after a lapse of two months, efforts are on to get the water out.
Getting rid of all the water and drying the houses takes weeks to complete – but the vast plain that had most of the water is apparently a long way from drying up again.
However, engineers have already restored the bridge crossing the Irpin River that cars were plying on it again on Saturday.
Construction workers in other areas near Kyiv have also built smaller bridges with metal beams running parallel to their larger, but blast-destroyed counterparts.
In some areas north of the capital, drivers can be seen climbing their vehicles on temporary metal pontoon bridges that bounce in the water under the weight of crossing cars.
But the war and its effects have left the elderly resident Didovets, whose house is still flooded, furious and weary.
“No tanks and no floods,” he said firmly.
“I just want peace.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)