Russian forces are shooting at Ukrainian rescuers trying to reach people trapped in the floods, Zelenskyy says

• Ukrainian rescuers are being "shot at" by Russia, Zelenskyy said, after a key dam was destroyed.
• He said this was happening in Russia-controlled areas, where Ukraine says most of the damage is.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces were shooting at Ukrainian rescuers in the floodwaters after a major dam in Ukraine was breached on Tuesday, sending water barreling towards thousands of homes.

"As soon as our helpers try to rescue them, they are shot at," Zelenskyy told Politico in an interview published on Wednesday.

Ukrainian rescuers are working to help people on the Russian-occupied east bank of the Dnipro river, he said.

The city of Kherson, which Ukraine retook from Russia in November, is on the west bank.

"It's very hard to get people out of the occupied part of Kherson region. When our forces try to get them out, they are shot at by occupiers from a distance," Zelenskyy said.

He added that because of the flooding, people and animals had died. "From the roofs of the flooded houses, people see drowned people floating by."

"We won't be able to see all the consequences for a few days, when the water has trickled down a bit," he said.

Zelenskyy said in an update on Wednesday night that it was impossible to know how many people in the Russian-occupied areas "may die without rescue, without drinking water, without food, without medical care."

He pleaded with international aid organizations for assistance, and visited the flooded areas himself on Thursday.

The Kakhovka dam, which is upstream from Kherson, was destroyed on Tuesday, releasing devastating floods of water into the region.

The region's governor said on Thursday that around 230 square miles (600 square kilometers) of Kherson was underwater, with most of that being on the Russian-occupied side of the river.

The Russian-installed mayor of the city of Nova Kakhovka said that five people had died there, Russian outlet Tass reported, while local media reported three deaths, according to The Guardian.

The death toll is expected to rise as waters recede.

Ukraine said that more than 40,000 people have been affected, and also warned of an ecological disaster.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that more than 2,000 people in the region had been evacuated but described the situation on the occupied side as "catastrophic."

He accused Russia of abandoning people there to the floods.

"The occupiers simply abandoned people in these terrible conditions," he said. "Without rescue, without water, just on the rooftops in flooded communities. And this is another deliberate crime of Russia: after the terrorist state has caused a disaster, it also maximizes the damage from it."

Both Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the dam's destruction, with multiple Ukrainian officials saying that Russia blew up the dam in a bid to hamper Ukraine's expected counteroffensive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in return called the act "barbaric," and pointed the finger firmly at Ukraine, after some Russian officials initially denied that there was any damage to the dam.