LATEST HEADLINES

• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the flood-stricken region of Kherson on Thursday to assess the scale of devastation after the destruction of a huge dam whose waters submerged homes, fields and roads.

• Zelenskyy held emergency talks with officials in Kherson and has appealed for a "clear and rapid" international effort to help flood victims.

•  Drone video showed areas where often only the roofs of houses were visible above the flooding.

• The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin was monitoring the situation.

• Russian and Ukrainian officials have also warned of the danger posed by mines planted during the 15-month-old war and now unearthed and scattered by the flood waters. READ MORE BELOW

• Putin has had a telephone conversation with Türkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and repeated the Russian assertion that Kyiv was responsible for the destruction of the dam which "has resulted in a large environmental and humanitarian catastrophe," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

IN DETAIL

Mines unearthed by floods pose long-term danger

Ukrainian and Russian officials have each warned of the danger posed by mines planted during the 15-month-old war and now unearthed and scattered by the flood waters.

"In the past we knew where the hazards were. Now we don't know. All we know is that (the mines) are somewhere downstream," said Erik Tollefsen, head of the Weapon Contamination Unit at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

He said the mines could pose a danger for decades to come. In its daily Ukraine briefing, Britain's defense ministry on Thursday reported heavy fighting along "multiple sectors of the front", adding that Kyiv held the initiative in most areas.

Ukraine's military said the flooding in Kherson had forced Russian troops to retreat by five to 15 kilometers in the region and had "practically halved" Russian shelling.

Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield situation. Russia did not immediately comment.

The governor overseeing the part of the Kherson region controlled by Russia said the collapse of the dam worked in Russia's favour by making it easier for its forces to defend against any Ukrainian counteroffensive.