Three people have been killed and ten were wounded when Russian forces attacked a boat carrying evacuees from flooded occupied territory to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kherson, the regional governor has claimed.
The area has been stricken by catastrophic flooding after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam which both Russia and Ukraine have accused other of deliberately blowing up.
"Three civilians died, ten more (people) were wounded, including two law enforcement officers," said Kherson region's governor, Oleksandr Prokudin.
In a statement on Telegram messenger, he said a 74-year-old man used his body to shield a woman from Russian fire and was hit in the back and died.
Mr Prokudin's statement did not make clear how Russian forces apparently attacked the boat.
The incident was first reported by President Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak, who said the boat had been carrying evacuees from flooded areas of occupied territory to the city of Kherson.
"The Russian army attacked a boat with civilians evacuating from the left bank of Kherson region," he wrote on the Telegram messenger.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the attack.
Russia denies targeting civilians. Its February 2022 full-scale invasion has killed thousands, uprooted millions and destroyed cities
It comes as 35 people, including seven children, are missing in southern Ukraine in the wake of the devastating flood that prosecutors called the "worst environmental catastrophe since Chernobyl".
The Russian-controlled Kakhovka dam along the front line in the Kherson region was destroyed on 6 June, forcing thousands to flee and sparking fears of humanitarian as well as environmental disasters.
The dam was blown up by Russian forces to prevent Ukrainian troops from advancing in the southern Kherson region, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said.
Ukrainian interior minister Igor Klymenko said that 77 towns and villages had been flooded in the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv.
Mr Klymenko said that in the Kherson region 35 people were missing, including seven children.
As a result of the flood, five people died in the region of Kherson and one person was dead in the region of Mykolaiv.
A total of 3,700 people had been evacuated from their homes in the two regions, the minister added in a statement.
In the city of Kherson, the largest population centre near the dam, the water began to subside and locals began to return to their homes to assess the damage.
Ukrainian rescuers in orange boats continued their efforts to evacuate people from the city's most affected areas and nearby islands.
An employee at Kherson's meteorological agency, Lora Musiyan, said the level of water dropped by 1.7 metres from the peak measurements recorded earlier this week.
Separately, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin and representatives of the International Criminal Court visited the flooded territory, his office said.
"This is the worst environmental catastrophe since Chernobyl so we are investigating not only a war crime but also an ecocide," Mr Kostin said in a statement.
"The situation is very complicated," he added.
He noted that a number of "dangerous" facilities including at least three cemeteries, oil storage terminals and garbage dumps have been flooded.
More than 170 prosecutors have been investigating the breach of the dam.
"Our colleagues from the International Criminal Court are also with us," he said.
Russia awards medals to soldiers
Russia's defence minister awarded medals to soldiers after Moscow said its forces had destroyed four German-made Leopard tanks and five US-made Bradley fighting vehicles while repelling a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Sergei Shoigu was shown on state television awarding the 'Hero of Russia gold star', Russia's highest military honour, to soldiers who said they had destroyed enemy tanks and armoured vehicles.
The soldiers did not identify the tanks in public.
The Defence Ministry published several videos and pictures over recent days showing numerous strikes on Ukrainian-manned armoured vehicles and tanks from Ka-52 attack helicopters and drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukrainian forces had so far failed in their counter-offensive but that the "offensive potential" of Ukraine had not been undermined yet.
Ukraine's attack is focusing on several points in southern Ukraine, Russia said. Russia has said its lines have so far not been pierced.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that his military was engaged in "counter-offensive and defensive operations" but said he would not go into detail.
Russia's defence ministry said it had repelled more than a dozen Ukrainian attacks over the past day in three major directions and had destroyed a column of armoured vehicles of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade in the Zaporizhzhia region.
"During the past day, the armed forces of Ukraine continued unsuccessful attempts of offensive actions in the Donetsk, southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia directions," it said.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify battlefield reports from either side, but was able to verify the location though not the date of a video showing Russian drones striking Ukrainian-manned tanks in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Russian military bloggers said Ukrainian forces had smashed through a section of the Russian lines south of the town of Velyka Novosilka, briefly taking several villages as Russian forces retreated to higher ground.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in the part of the Zaporizhzhia region controlled by Russia, said Russian forces had then taken the village back.
Ukraine has said it made gains near Bakhmut, which fell to Russia last month.
Russia's defence ministry published several videos and pictures over recent days showing numerous strikes on Ukrainian-manned armoured vehicles and tanks from Ka-52 attack helicopters and drones.
In footage released by the ministry yesterday, drones were shown striking tanks in the Zaporizhzhia region where Kyiv's forces have so far focused their counter-offensive.
Reuters was able to verify the location of the video as two miles south of the village of Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia by vegetation lines, crop squares and buildings that matched satellite imagery of the area.
