Residents claimed the deliberate flooding of a tiny town north of Kyiv, which created a quagmire and swamped cellars and fields but stopped a Russian onslaught on the city, was well worth the price. Early in the conflict, Ukrainian forces constructed a dam in Demydiv, forcing the Irpin River to flood the settlement and thousands of acres surrounding it. The maneuver was later credited with preventing Russian soldiers and tanks from breaching Ukraine’s defenses.
‘Of course, it was good,’ said a villager who declined to provide his name. ‘What would have happened if they (Russian forces) had been able to cross the small river and then proceeded to Kyiv?’ according to another worker who did not want to be identified, more than a third of certain fields have been inundated. People in the community were still struggling with the effects of the flooding two months later. They were using inflatable boats to get about and cultivating flowers and vegetables on whatever dry expanses of ground remained.
Wetlands were preserved for children to play in. The Russian invasion, which is now in its third month, has killed thousands of civilians, driven millions of Ukrainians from their homes, and left towns in ruins. Moscow refers to its efforts in Ukraine as a ‘special military operation’ to disarm the country and defend it from Nazis. Ukraine and the West argue that the fascist charge is unfounded and that a conflict is an unjustified act of aggression. On Sunday, Russia shelled locations in Ukraine’s east, attempting to surround Ukrainian soldiers in the struggle for Donbas.
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