While Kyiv accuses Moscow of "ecocide," an estimated 700,000 people surrounding the Nova Kakhovka dam lack access to safe water.
Ukraine's Kyiv - The most sought-after good among the displaced populations living along the banks of the Dnipro River in Ukraine is bottled water.
On June 6, the Nova Kakhovka dam in Kherson's southern section was destroyed, releasing 18 cubic kilometres (4.3 cubic miles) of water that flooded farms and settlements.
There is water everywhere, but none of it is drinkable.
"It is all poisoned," Pavlo Khrapun, a Project Hope employee and humanitarian, told Al Jazeera.
Chemical fertilisers from cultivated fields were washed away by the man-made flood, along with other pollutants from the riverbed and cemeteries. In addition, the breached dam released at least 150 tonnes of machine oil, and it's likely that additional fuel and industrial waste were also released from nearby plants.
Water, sanitation, and hygiene specialist Khrapun said his team has been working nonstop to distribute drinking water despite the threat presented by anti-tank and amphibious mines loosened by the downpour and the nearly continuous sound of firing.
People are really worn out and worried out, but Khrapun noted that helping one another inspires them. They are concentrating on supporting one another.
An "extraordinary" 700,000 people, according to the UN, require access to safe drinking water.
According to UN Undersecretary General Martin Griffiths, the dam rupture will undoubtedly have effects that people will feel for years to come.
Griffiths declared, "This is an absolute calamity."
Ukraine is still searching for the right words to describe what it sees as a crime days after the explosion that led to the dam's collapse.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia intentionally detonated the dam, calling the incident a "war crime," "an act of terrorism," and "brutal ecocide."
170.318 SRY