Months after dam destroyed to stop Russian advance, parts of village still flooded

(Reuters) – Some 50 homes in the village of Demydiv remain partially submerged months after a dam was destroyed and the area flooded to stop Russian troops from advancing on Ukraine capital Kyiv, regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said late on Saturday.

The Ukrainian military blew up a dam on the river Irpin in February, sending water surging into the village and thousands of acres around it, flooding houses and fields, but preventing Russian tanks from reaching the capital city.

“At this time, about 50 houses in the village of Demydiv remain flooded,” Kuleba wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

“People are understanding of the situation. We, in turn, make every effort to resolve the issue.”

The village, whose history goes back a thousand years, had been partially evacuated after the start of the invasion, local media reported, but some residents have returned since Moscow shifted its offensive to east Ukraine.

Over the weekend, Russian forces pummelled eastern towns in what the Kremlin calls its “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists. Kyiv and Western countries dismiss this as a false pretext for a land grab.

(Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Tom Hogue)