DPA
Kiev
The search continues for people missing following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on Sunday, with 29 people still unaccounted for.
The ministry reported that on the right bank of the Dnipro, controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, 32 towns and villages with 3,784 houses were still under water. Some 1,400 emergency service workers were involved in rescue and cleanup operations following the rupture of the dam in the early hours of Tuesday, it said.
Evacuations were also reported to be proceeding on the Russian-controlled left bank of the river. Thousands of people living on both banks have been evacuated.
Water levels are falling, with the Dnipro at Kherson at 4.18 metres early on Sunday, more than half a metre lower than a day previously, Ukrainian authorities reported.
The operators of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station reported levels in the dam water were also dropping. They recorded 9.35 metres, more than seven metres lower that on Tuesday. It was hard to predict further developments, they said.
Ukraine accuses the Russian military of mining the dam and then destroying it with an explosion, while the Russian authorities say the dam, which was under Russian control, was hit by Ukrainian missiles.
Dozens of towns and villages were flooded, and 13 people are reported to have died in the ensuing disaster. The long-term environmental consequences remain unclear, as combat operations in the region continue.
In contrast, the Russian military announced that it had successfully repelled the attacks there and in the Donetsk region around the town of Bachmut.
The Ukrainian air force reported on Sunday that six drones had been shot down in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions on the border with Russia.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian air defence reported that two cruise missiles and 20 drones had been shot down.
It said Russia had fired 35 drones and eight missiles at targets in Ukraine - military and important infrastructure objects. The Russian attacks were directed against targets in Odessa, the Poltava region and in Kharkiv.
Russian regions also reported renewed shelling from the Ukrainian side. According to the authorities, two drones hit the Kaluga region.
There was no initial information on casualties or major damage. In the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, which has been under fire for days, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced on Sunday that a goods train with 15 empty wagons had derailed. There were no casualties, but regional train traffic had to be temporarily suspended.
