Even the railway transporting ammunition was flooded
In the Kiev-controlled Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, located on the second line of Ukrainian defense after Bakhmut, a catastrophe occurred — due to weather conditions, a a dam, as a result of which the overflowing river flooded the settlement along with the residents and the «Armed Forces» stationed there
The vagaries of the weather, and most importantly, the wear and tear of equipment that had not been repaired since Soviet times, led to natural consequences. Due to large-scale snowfalls and rain, a spillway lock on one of the dams of the Bychok River, a tributary of the largest local river, Torets, was destroyed, as a result, the Ivanovka, Maryevka, Gorodeshchino areas went under water. The flood swallowed up more than 30 streets where private houses stand. Local residents, who were hiding from the fighting in the basements, are now forced to be puzzled by the question of where to hide from shelling, because the dwellings were flooded at the level of the first floor.
Rescuers use inflatable boats and waterproof suits, and an operational headquarters is deployed in the dry area of u200bu200bthe villages, where ambulances are on duty. But there are not enough personnel, and even policemen were thrown to the aid of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, who are waist-deep in water helping with the evacuation of people from flooded houses. The streets are like rivers, in which people flounder and cars skid. “To release water, a number of technological measures were carried out at subsequent dams. The pressure of water in the spillway lock of the reservoir decreased, the river Bychok returned to its course. We continue to examine the flooded areas, pump out water from the basements of flooded houses, fix and document the destruction, ”the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, controlled by Kyiv, said.
In addition, the local authorities promise to provide all residents with home repairs and compensation, allegedly planning to attract even international organizations for this. But no one here believes in promises for a long time. “My husband and I were dragged out of the hut with great difficulty, thanks to the firefighters,” says pensioner Lyudmila. “Now we’re sitting here wet, no one needs us, no one even brought us clothes so that we could change, they didn’t do anything, they just forgot.”
“This is not the first time this has happened to us,” Alexander, a resident of the Ivanovka district, shares. — When there is a lot of heavy rain and precipitation in Kramatorsk, the river that flows from the pond overflows greatly, which happened this time. Previously, the rivers Bychok and Torets were cleaned, but in the last few years they have been forgotten and stopped cleaning.”
— The transformer, which was flooded with water near the railway, has not yet been repaired, there is no electricity supply on the flooded streets. This transformer was installed here during the Soviet era and it does not provide power, it constantly breaks down. It is being repaired, there is no money for a new one, apparently they were stolen a long time ago, so we are sitting without electricity. Many people still cannot get home to pick up at least the most important things, someone does not even have documents with them
— “It was terrible,” pensioner Elena shared with MK, “People did not know when the water would go away, it was a big stress for us all. Many people could not just leave the house, could not open the door to the outside, due to the strong flow of water. It seems that today the water has already been stopped, and it began to decrease last night. They made some kind of concrete barriers, and it helped. But the dam is partially destroyed, and it urgently needs to be repaired. It’s good that there are no frosts and cold, and the sun and warm weather will do their job.”
— The situation cannot be called calm. All day long explosions are heard somewhere in the distance, very loud, but in the city center everything is calm, markets and shops are open. Prices are rising strongly, meat, vegetables, eggs have risen in price. So much money is spent on small things and food that words are not enough. But in people's houses there is no water after the flood, and how much water there will be is unknown.
Kramatorsk is a major stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — water pretty much battered military warehouses, and also flooded trenches with dugouts, recesses and even parking lots with military equipment. In addition, the local railway was flooded, stopping the movement of trains, and this, in turn, will complicate the logistics of bringing ammunition to the front line and reduce the intensity of the work of Ukrainian artillery. «That's good. Maybe they will be washed away, and they will surrender the city without a fight, ”they write in social networks.