In the occupied cities of Skadovsk and Henichesk, Kherson Oblast, Russia secretly vaccinates members of its occupation administrations against cholera, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on 5 July.
The number of infectious disease cases in the occupied Kherson Oblast has increased, and the symptoms of the disease resemble those of cholera, according to the General Staff.
As noted, Russia’s occupation authorities in the occupied area do not acknowledge the problem.
“They are trying to hide the deteriorating sanitary and epidemiological situation in the region, and have started secretly vaccinating representatives of the so-called administrations and their inner circle against cholera,” the General Staff wrote on Facebook.
This problem arose due to the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant by Russians. According to the Center for National Resistance, 12 cemeteries, a cattle cemetery, and a biothermal pit were flooded on the Russian-controlled left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovka power plant. Flooding of such facilities can cause epidemics.
On 16 June, Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Liashko told BBC that water in the Dnipro River is “tens of thousands of times” more polluted due to the Kakhovka dam breach. Nevertheless, he mentioned that cholera outbreaks were not yet detected among civilians.
Read also:
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- Ukraine begins construction of 150-km pipeline to restore water supply following Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam
- Russo-Ukrainian war, day 108: Ukraine increases urgency of calls for weapons, Mariupol at risk of cholera outbreak
- Kakhovka Dam destruction direct losses amounted to USD 2 bn for Ukraine
