Floating landmines detonate at river banks after dam flooding in Ukraine

The landmines detonated meters away from people (Picture: theHALOtrust/e2w)

Landmines have washed up to the banks of Ukraine’s Dnipro River after the explosion at the hydroelectric dam in Nova Kakhovka.

As tens of thousands of people abandon their homes, slogging through flooded streets carrying children on their shoulders, pets in their arms and belongings in plastic bags, presidents are trading blame for the disaster in the Kherson Oblast.

As the torrent of water moves uncontrollably, further threats are being unveiled on the shores of he river.

Footage shared on social media shows washed up landmines detonating meters away from people.

Experts from the HALO Trust clearing up the landmines

The Halo Trust, a humanitarian landmine clearance charity which hosted foreign secretary James Cleverly in Kyiv earlier this week, confirmed it is already working in southern Ukraine to demine affected areas.

As the waters rise, mines are being moved, leading to their detonation, the trust said in a post on Twitter.

Visiting the city of Kherson on the Dnipro River that divides the country, deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said more than 80 towns and villages have been affected so far.

‘Water is disturbing mines that were laid earlier, causing them to explode,’ he told reporters.

Ukrainian media shared a picture of Russian mines washed ashore after the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (Picture: e2w)

As a result of the flooding, chemicals and infectious bacteria are also getting into the water, the politician said.

Mr Kubrakov added: ‘This is one of the most terrifying terrorist acts of this war.’

Ukraine warned that hundreds of thousands of people will be left without access to drinking water, tens of thousands of hectares of land will be swamped and at least 500,000 hectares deprived of irrigation will become ‘deserts’ as a result.

Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that the situation in occupied parts of the Kherson region is ‘absolutely catastrophic’.

‘Russian occupiers are simply abandoning people in frightful conditions. No help, without water, left on the roofs of houses in submerged communities,’ he said.

A video circulating online shows a bottle of water being dropped from a drone to a Ukrainian boy trapped in the attic of his flooded house.

Residents can be seen hanging out of windows and clinging to boats as soldiers rescue them from their homes. 

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‘Water is disturbing mines that were laid earlier, causing them to explode.’