“Hundreds of thousands” of Ukrainians have difficulty accessing drinking water, three days after a dam collapsed causing major flooding in the south Ukraineas stated today by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“For hundreds of thousands of people in many cities and villages, access to drinking water is very difficult,” he told Telegram the day after his visit to the zone.

Meanwhile, at least five people have been killed and 13 are reported missing in the floods caused by the collapse of the Kahovka dam, Interior Minister Ihor Klimenko said today.

Citing the same source, Reuters reports four dead and 13 missing.

A total of 48 communities have been flooded, 14 of which are in Russian-occupied zones, and 2,412 people have been displaced from their homes on the Ukrainian side, the Ukrainian interior minister said on Telegram.

For their part, the Russian occupation authorities said that eight people had died in the floods in the Russian-held part of the Kherson region, and that the rise in water levels could last another 10 days.

“In total, 22,273 houses in 17 communities have been flooded. According to forecasts, the rise in water levels may last another 10 days,” Vladimir Saldo, head of the occupied department of the Kherson region, said on Telegram, clarifying that the tally of flooding “increased to eight” deaths.

According to him, 5,800 people have been evacuated since Tuesday from flooded zones under Russian occupation and 4,000 people are facing the risk of water supply interruptions.

He also accused the Ukrainian army of shelling the area, “which makes the work of rescue teams difficult.”

Russia, for its part, bombed the city of Kherson and the part of the region under Ukrainian control, according to AFP journalists on the ground.