Volodymyr Zelensky visits Kherson to see flooding devastation after dam breach

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the flood-hit region of Kherson to evaluate the response to damage caused by the dam breach.

The Ukrainian leader said he is helping to assess efforts to evacuate civilians, provide them with drinking water and other support and try to stanch vast environmental damage.

Mr Zelensky also raised the prospect of funding allocations to help compensate residents and businesses driven from their homes and offices by rising waters.

Kyiv and Moscow have blamed each other for the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station and dam on Tuesday, which unleashed torrents of flood water from the Dnipro River.

"Many important issues were discussed. The operational situation in the region as a result of the disaster, evacuation of the population from potential flood zones, elimination of the emergency caused by the dam explosion, organization of life support for the flooded areas,"Mr Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app under video footage of his visit.

"Also, the prospects for restoring the region's ecosystem and the operational military situation in the man-made disaster area."

Meanwhile, the Kremlin-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, a Russian-occupied town three miles from the collapsed dam, reported on Russian state TV that five of seven residents declared missing after the dam breach are dead.

The two others have been found and efforts were being made to evacuate them, Vladimir Leontyev added.

At least 4,000 people have been evacuated from both the Russian and Ukrainian-controlled sides of the Dnipro river, which has become part of the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the more than 15-month-old war, officials said.

The true scale of the disaster is yet to emerge in an area that was home to more than 60,000 people.