KHERSON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2022) Thousands of hectares of forest are burning in the Kinburn Spit Reserve in the Russia-controlled part of Mykolaiv region as a result of Ukrainian shelling, at least four civilians died, a source in the emergency services of the neighboring Kherson region told Sputnik.
"With the outbreak of hostilities, a heavy blow was dealt to the ecosystem of the peninsula - the Kinburn Spit was covered with fires that arose due to artillery strikes carried out by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To date, more than 11,000 hectares of forest have burned out and are irretrievably lost. The actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine led not only to the death of thousands of hectares of forest and to the impossibility of extinguishing fires due to the high risk of mine explosions, but also to the deaths of civilians," the source said.
He specified that two civilians were killed when their vehicle blew up on a Ukrainian mine on August 13. Another two civilians were killed on August 15, when their car hit a Ukrainian mine in the same area (between the villages of Vasylivka and Pokrovske).
"This stopped fire trucks from leaving the village of Vasylivka, and the fight against fires became impossible. All that local residents can do in this situation is to fight fires inside their villages and around power substations," the emergencies source told Sputnik
