A flood is usually a disaster, but the neighbors of Demydiv are proud to have contributed to saving kyiv after the Ukrainian Army open a dam in February to stop the advance of Russian troops towards the capital.
“This was like Venice. Sometimes we also moved in boats“, relates one of the neighbors, Volodímir, with that mixture of stoicism and resignation so typical of the Ukrainians.
The waters have receded, but numerous houses of this small town of about 4,000 inhabitants north of kyiv have the flooded basementswhile the neighboring fields remain submerged or are a quagmire in which nothing can be planted.
Demydiv, the flooded town that saved kyiv from being razed by Vladimir Putin’s tanks. Photo REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
A tanker truck goes three times a week to bring drinking water because the wells have leaked.
Ukraine’s plan to stop the Russian advance: flood a village
On February 25, the Ukrainian Army flooded the town along with a large expanse of fields and swamps around it, thus preventing Russian armor from reaching the capital.
The residents of Demydiv have had to live with a sea of stagnant water that made life very difficult for them. However, they are proud of having helped defend their country.
“I have a flooded patio, but kyiv is still standing,” explains Grigori, 63, pointing out that the water level reached his knee and shows that his basement and well are still flooded.
To stop Russian advances, the Ukrainian military has been forced to blow up bridges, destroy roads and airports and, in this case, open a dam.
Demydiv, the flooded town that saved kyiv from being razed by Vladimir Putin’s tanks. Photo EFE/Orlando Barría.
The strategy comes at a huge cost to a country that is already being devastated by Russian attacks. Only the Infrastructure damage amounts to some 90,000 million eurosaccording to a study by the kyiv School of Economics.
“Our military did what they should. The tanks would have reached kyiv in an hour, “adds Grigori, who regrets losing part of his harvest.
“They have promised us help, but I suppose that now they have more urgent things”, recognizes.
Although some neighbors complain about the slowness of the cleaning tasks and that there is a lack of drinking water, the town has united and some peasants have given part of their land to those who have lost their orchard due to the flood.
Demydiv, the flooded town that saved kyiv from being razed by Vladimir Putin’s tanks. Photo EFE/Orlando Barría.
Some report that they have also shared preserves and foodas well as the transportation of gasoline and cleaning work.
“A job of months” for the town to return to normality
Yuri Koshchenko is a municipal worker pumps water across a sand dam that protects the town from a lake created by the opening of the dam. There the water only reveals in some cases the tops of the trees.
Yuri Koshchenko turns on a water extraction pump in the town of Demydiv (Ukraine). Photo: EFE/Orlando Barría.
The dam protects the townbut it’s poorly insulated and water continues to seep in from below, so Yuri uses a pump that drains 400 liters of water per minute to compensate.
“This is a month’s work“, he explains shortly before filling the pump motor with diesel. The dam that was opened to release water was damaged by a Russian attack and that also prevents the water accumulated there from being drained faster.
With information from EFE.
