"We heard only one word from him on the phone – "water". The stories of the eight people who died as a result of the explosion at the Kakhovka HPP

On June 6, 2023, the Russian military blew up the Kakhovka HPP dam in Kherson Oblast. A flood began in the region. High water overflowed the streets, yards, and homes of local residents. According to official data, 16 residents died as a result of the flood. However, according to the locals, the death toll is much higher, but the Russian occupiers are hiding this information.

The following are the stories of the eight people who died as a result of the blow-up of the HPP dam.

This text was prepared by the Memorial Memory Platform that tells the stories of the Ukrainian military and civilians killed by Russia, exclusively for Ukrainska Pravda.

Kateryna Kruchyna, 90 years old

Kateryna Kruchyna drowned in the yard of her own house on Sanatorna Street in the town of Hola Prystan.

Kateryna Tykhonivna was born in the village of Velyka Kardashynka. After her marriage, she moved to the village of Ukrainske where her husband lived. In 1963, the couple settled in Hola Prystan. They built a house there. The couple had two sons.

Kateryna worked at the registry office of the city children's polyclinic for more than 30 years.

The area of Hola Prystan where she lived often suffered from floods. After Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka HPP dam on June 6, 2023, it was rapidly submerged underwater. 

Friends and relatives searched for Kateryna unyieldingly. On June 12, the 90-year-old woman was found dead in her own yard. Beside her was her beloved shepherd dog. For two days, the occupiers did not allow anyone to approach the body, and only then it was taken to the morgue in the village of Kalanchak.

"I have only warm memories of Granny Katia. We used to be neighbors, Granny Katia lived near my parents in the village. We often visited her and played there when we were children. I remember once we were skating on the ice, fell, and got wet. When she saw us, she took us home. There, we dried up, warmed up, and never got in trouble with our parents," – recalled the victim's neighbor who wished to remain anonymous.

"Even at her age, she was very energetic, independent. She was very good and kind. She brought my mother meals when she was on night duty at the hospital. She took care of everyone. She had two sons, one died just before the war. Another son wanted to evacuate his mother but the occupiers did not let him. Kateryna Tykhonivna survived World War II, the Holodomor, but not the Russian occupation..." – a friend of the deceased whose personal details cannot be disclosed for security reasons.

Kateryna Kruchyna is survived by her son, two granddaughters, and great-grandsons.

Anatolii Kornieiev, 79 years old

Anatolii Kornieiev drowned in his house on Berehova Street in the town of Hola Prystan.

Anatolii Stepanovych was originally from this town. Before retirement, he worked in Kherson – repairing ships at a shipyard. In his youth, he did boxing and took diving and shooting courses.

Anatolii used to live in Kherson with his wife and sons. When he retired, he returned to Hola Prystan. He liked to fish. Took care of the household. He kept dogs, cats, and chickens.

Even before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Anatolii Stepanovych`s family offered him and his wife to move back to Kherson, but he refused.

And then the Russian army took Hola Prystan and the couple found themselves under occupation. In February 2023, due to the lack of proper treatment and access to medicines, Anatolii's wife died.

On June 6, 2023, when Russian troops blew up the Kakhovka HPP dam, his family members tried to contact Anatolii Kornieiev. However, the cell connection was very poor. They heard only one word from him on the phone – "water".

"Grandfather always came to help everyone who needed it. Unbreakable, a man of his word," – said the granddaughter of the deceased, Anastasiia Kornieieva.

The deceased is survived by his sons and their families, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Tetiana Hryshko, 32 years old

Tetiana Hryshko was killed on June 8, 2023, while trying to evacuate her grandparents from Hola Prystan. The woman was pregnant, expecting the birth of her daughter.

Tatiana was born in Hola Prystan. In 2005-2007, she studied hairdressing at Vocational and Technical School No. 10 in Kherson. After graduating, she continued to work in this profession.

"My dear friend Tetiana Hryshko, it saddens and hurts me to realize that you are gone... We had a very good youth, you and I studied together and built big plans for the future. You were a sincere, kind, sensitive girl. You were an excellent hairdresser, a master of your craft. May your memory be bright... I want to remember you smiling, cheerful, and with a ringing laugh," – said Veronika Chepurna, a friend of the deceased.

"My Sunshine, the dear godmother of my child, it was as I have sensed something ahead of time... Forgive me that I didn't turn half the world over to hear you and persuade you not to go! Our loss is tremendous!", – added Kateryna Hudz, a friend of the deceased.

Tetiana Hryshko is survived by her parents, sister, boyfriend, and nephews.

Heorhii Sanin, 85 years old

Heorhii Sanin drowned on June 6, 2023, in the town of Hola Prystan.

Heorhii Mykhailovych was originally from Skadovskyi District. He finished school, then joined the army. After the service, he married a girl from a neighboring village – Zinaida. The couple moved to Hola Prystan. They built a house there and raised two daughters.

Heorhii was a professional carpenter and also worked as a driver. In retirement, he earned extra money by driving a taxi. He and his wife had a greenhouse where they grew cucumbers, tomatoes, and early varieties of potatoes.

After Hola Prystan was occupied by Russian troops, the Sanin family did not want to leave their hometown.

Heorhii`s wife Zinaida was ill. Due to the occupation, she had no proper access to medical treatment and died in the fall of 2022. Heorhii died seven months later. He had limited mobility and could not walk well, thus it was extremely difficult for him to escape from deep water.

Both daughters of Heorhii sat on the roofs of their houses for several days until they managed to evacuate.

"Heorhii was good, caring, and friendly. He rejoiced at the birth of his grandchildren, lived to see his great-grandchildren, and often played with them. Grandpa told us about the horrors that the locals had to go through during the occupation: constant explosions, shelling, those who resisted the occupiers were tortured and killed, people's cars were stolen. People were forced to receive Russian passports. The occupiers turned our beautiful tourist town into ruins..." – said Tetiana, wife of Heorhii`s grandson.

His family started looking for Heorhii on the first day after the explosion at the HPP. They called his friends and acquaintances, reviewed the lists of evacuees, but he was nowhere to be found.

"On June 17, when the water level dropped, his body was found near his house. We managed to find a coffin quickly and bury Grandpa before the curfew. It's good we were so quick because when "they" came, the dead were collected, loaded, and taken to Radensk where they were buried in a mass grave," – said Tetiana.

Heorhii Sanin was buried beside his wife at the local cemetery.

He is survived by two daughters, four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Serhii Borzov, 49 years old

Serhii Borzov died in the town of Oleshky, Kherson Oblast.

He grew up and lived in Oleshky. Serhii worked as a storekeeper at a confectionary warehouse, and most recently – as a gas station attendant.

His hometown was occupied by Russian troops from the first days of the full-scale war. After the enemy blew up the Kakhovka HPP dam on June 6, 2023, waves of water began to arrive in Oleshky.

That afternoon, Serhii contacted his loved ones for the last time. The street where he lived was one of the first to be flooded. According to his friend Iryna, Serhii was at home but could not get to the roof of the house and drowned. His body was found on June 12.

"We met in 2014-2015 and worked together. Serhii was a very responsive, friendly person. He always knew how to listen and support. Despite various life circumstances, he kept a smile on his face. He lived and enjoyed life," –  the friend of the deceased recalled.

"He was a very good person, honest and fair," – his niece Svitlana added about the deceased.

Serhii Borzov is survived by his mother and niece.

A family of retirees from Hola Prystan: 63-year-old Tetiana, 70-year-old Viktor, and 88-year-old Antonina

Tetyana Kramarenko, her husband Viktor Kramarenko, and her mother Antonina Kholodniak in Hola Prystan on June 7, 2023.

Tetiana Kramarenko was born in Hola Prystan. For over 27 years, she worked at a branch of a sewing factory in Oleshky. When it closed, she worked part-time in a hospital and also – for a private entrepreneur in Hola Prystan.

"In the early 2000s, a terrible thing happened to my mother. She came home from work on her lunch break and caught thieves red-handed. And they, in order to hide the traces of the crime, tried to kill my mother. They beat her badly and ran away. As a result of the injuries she received, my mother's brain cells began to die. She received a disability," – said Viktoriia Hrinenkova, the deceased`s daughter.

After the incident, Tatiana could not work anymore. She was engaged in housekeeping and took care of the garden.

Tetyana's 70-year-old husband, Viktor Kramarenko, also was a Kherson Oblast native. At one time, he used to work in law enforcement. In 1986, he took part in liquidating the consequences of the disaster at the Chornobyl NPP. He had liquidator status and state awards. Due to exposure, Viktor developed radiation sickness followed by gangrene. The man had to have his legs amputated. He used a wheelchair.

"Viktor was my stepfather, but I called him my father. He was cheerful and positive. He loved fishing, adored his children and grandchildren. He and my mother lived happily all their lives," – said Viktoriia Hrinenkova.

Tetiana's mother, Antonina Kholodniak, lived with the couple on 200 Years Street in Hola Prystan.

She was born on Bilohrudiv Island in Kherson Oblast. After her marriage, she moved to Hola Prystan together with her husband Hryhorii. Before retirement, she worked as a chain worker for many years, then she was a foreman in the vineyards. In recent years, she developed sight problems.

"My grandmother became a widow early and never remarried. After the death of her eldest daughter, she moved in with the youngest – Tetiana... Grandma liked to be listened to. She was very hardworking. She did not sit idle until the last," – said her granddaughter Viktoriia Hrinenkova.

When the Russian occupiers blew up the Kakhovka HPP dam on June 6, 2023, relatives immediately offered Antonina, Viktor, and Tetiana to evacuate to Zaliznyi Port. They refused.

"The driver tried to persuade them to go for 40 minutes, but Grandma and Dad did not want to. Many people did not understand the scale of the disaster so they stayed in the town. They did not understand what could happen... These were mainly retirees, people with disabilities. They could have survived but no one saved them... We must shout about the Left Bank [of the Dnieper], about what happened there. I want to tell people: don't stay where it's dangerous, don't be afraid to leave. You can return to your native walls later but life will never come back," – said Viktoriia Hrinenkova.

When big water started to arrive in Hola Prystan, it became extremely difficult to escape.

There was no room for them in the rescue boat that floated near their relatives' house. Antonina, Victor, and Tetiana were left on their own with the elements and drowned.

"Eyewitnesses said that people took pets into the boat and rescued livestock. My relatives begged for rescue, but the volunteer said the boat was full and left them without help. My loved ones were helpless: my father had no legs, and my grandmother was almost blind. And my mother simply could not leave them behind," – said Viktoriia Hrinenkova.

Antonina, Tetiana, and Viktor were buried in the village of Kalanchak.

"My mother was a very strong, strong-willed woman. She was the best and kindest. She never gave up – despite all the trials she endured. We had a very warm relationship. Even at the age of 47, it was as if I was connected to her by an umbilical cord. A part of me died together with my mother," – said the daughter of the deceased.

Authors: Olha Horodetska, Inna Kubai