Floods between Russia and Kazakhstan

In many regions of the two countries, rivers have been flooding since the beginning of April. Among the worst affected areas are the Kazakh region of Atyrau and the Russian city of Orsk. Astana rejects the criticism that it did not manage the discharge of snow accumulations properly. There is controversy over the Russian civil defence not taking measures to mitigate the impact of the water.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Ministry for Water Resources of Kazakhstan has responded to the accusations coming from Russia, stating that the Kazakhs can in no way influence the floods that are inundating the cities in the southern area of the Urals, as the water from the The Tobol River that flows into their territory comes from Russia, and decisions about the flow of these waters must be made from these sources of flow.

The ministry's statement reads that "since April 2, the Kazakh side has been regularly informing the Russians about decisions regarding this part of the river, and it is not correct to attribute responsibilities to Kazakhstan that do not correspond to reality."

The two countries exchange information in this regard 24 hours a day, and "there can be no question of non-agreed initiatives". It was Russia's representative in the Ural federal district, Vladimir Jakušev, who pointed the finger at Kazakhstan, stating that the discharge of snow accumulations, which were very heavy during the winter, needed to be agreed upon more carefully.

In many regions of Kazakhstan, as in Russia, all river levels have increased since the beginning of April, hence the continuous flooding. A state of emergency has been declared in ten regions; in Atyrau, the most affected by the floods, tens of thousands of people were evacuated.

President Kasym-Žomart Tokaev defined the massive floods as true "natural catastrophes" that have no equal compared to similar events in the country for many years. In Russia, floods were recorded in 39 regions, in the territories of the Siberian, Overvolga and central Russia districts, with emergency areas and appeals from local administrations to evacuate homes.

The most affected city in Russia was Orsk on the Ural river, with over 10 thousand houses completely submerged by the flooding of the tributary Elšanka, and the local hospital was also flooded. In the Orenburg region a dam broke, affecting over 4 thousand houses, with some victims, and there are fears that the phenomenon could worsen further in the coming days.

The inhabitants of the area have directed very heated criticism at the minister of civil protection, who had organized only "demonstrative" rescue teams under the direction of the commissioner appointed for the emergency, Vladimir Putin's former security chief, Aleksandr Kurenkov.

According to statements by residents of towns and villages in the Orenburg region, rescuers limit themselves to taking photos and shooting videos for "feature reports" to be shown on television. One of them said that "I haven't slept for 7 days, and they don't do anything, they sit in their places eating pancakes, get a move on!".

According to various media, the civil protection had already had information on the flooding that would have occurred for over a month, but no measures were taken to reduce the possible negative consequences. In Orsk, one of the most effective relief points proved to be the local community of Seventh-day Adventists, capable of distributing water, food and clothing to all the inhabitants, considering the thousands of submerged houses and the over 2 thousand evacuees, including almost 700 children.