Ukraine/Russia: Russia Covered up and Undercounted True Human Cost of Floodings after Dam Explosion, AP Investigation Finds

Dec 28, 2023 | Samya Kullab and Illia Novikov, Associated Press
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The residents of Oleshky in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine could not identify many of those they buried after a catastrophic dam collapse in June sent water coursing through their homes and shattered their lives. The bodies were too bloated and discolored, volunteer rescuers and health workers said. They described seeing faces that resembled rubber masks, frozen in that last frenzied gasp for air. But to those secretly keeping count of the drowned, Yurii Bilyi was no stranger.