Evil Putin shells Ukrainian rescue boats desperately trying to save civilians from flood-ravaged Kherson after dam blast

RUSSIAN forces have begun shelling innocent Ukrainian residents as they attempt to flee the flooded region of Kherson after Putin blew up a critical dam, Ukraine claims.

Desperate families have been fleeing their homes in rubber boats, and are now having to dodge shells from Russian troops as they attempt to find safety.

The Ukraine Prosecutor General said one person has died, and more have been wounded - due to "targeted" strikes.

The ministry said the Russian shelling had begun "precisely during the evacuation of citizens whose homes were flooded".

The mayor of Oleski, Yevhen Ryschuk wrote on Telegram: "Orcs have just fired at the school building where people from flooded homes were gathering."

Residential buildings have also been damaged, according to local reports.

The strikes also pose a further risk upstream too at the the largest nuclear-power plant in Europe, Zaporizhia, in southern Ukraine.

The nuclear plant operators have today warned that the water supply from the ruptured Kakhovka dam's reservoir can no longer be used to cool the reactors.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, who is due to visit the plant next week, said that a cooling pond can be used for a short time.

"It is therefore vital that this cooling pond remains intact... I call on all sides to ensure nothing is done to undermine that."

Back in Kherson, floating landmines are also a worry from the floods, and a German fire and rescue worker told Sky News: "I've never seen anything this big."

One dramatic video showed a 93 year old man being hit by shrapnel as he was rescued by a boat from his flooded home in the city.

Just moments before, he was smiling and thanking the men who rescued him, who affectionately called him father.

The man said: "I've survived one war already. Now I'm surviving a second one in my old age."

A series of explosions burst close to the boat, and the old man could be seen clutching his head as blood poured form the wound and dripped down his arm.

He's now been given medical help and is safe, rescuers said.

A rescuer in Kherson told The Sun Online that desperate citizens are being targeted as they search for safety.

The rescue worker suggested the intense shelling might be related to President Zelensky's visit to Kherson following the sabotage attack on the Nova Khakhovka Dam earlier this week.

He said: "Heavy shelling has hit the flooded region where people were evacuating on rubber boats.

"A residential building was hit badly; nobody has been allowed to go to the building, as ordered by the military.

"I spoke with locals and they had been speaking with relatives who are still in the flooded regions and people were crying, in a state of shock."

He explained that people hid behind high rise buildings as shelling happened sporadically.

Despite the terrifying attack on fleeing residents, the rescue worker said some citizens have been strolling around the streets like "nothing was happening" - as they've become used to the shelling.

One video taken as civilians were fleeing shows a the roof of a high rise building exploding after being targeted with a shell, as the civilians scream.

One shocking video showed two men attempting to navigate a rubber boat when a shell landed metres away from their boat.

The flood waters in southern Ukraine have been contaminated with corpses following the dam blast.

"Our water comes from the Dnipro - but now the cemeteries are flooded, so it's not safe to drink," one rescuer on the ground in Kherson told The Sun Online.

"Also there is oil in the water, the remnants of the power plant, and the mines.

"There is a lot of water now in the city - but there is no drinking safe water."

And the situation is worsening on the Russian side of the Dnipro River, where authorities are refusing to help people stuck on their roofs.

A rescuer said: "The Russians' so-called government is not doing anything to save these people who are stuck on their roofs.

"They are going to drown in hours, and there is nothing we can do."

The ongoing rescue effort for thousands trapped on their roofs with no water is becoming more precarious.

Ukraine has resorted to using drones to reach those who cannot escape their homes, and has air dropped bottles of water to them.

During his visit to Kherson earlier today, Zelensky said Ukraine needs a "clear and quick response from the world" in response to the brutal attack.