THE DEATH TOLL from flooding sparked by a breach of a huge Ukrainian dam has risen to 41 in areas under Russian control, according to an official.

“Unfortunately the number of dead has risen to 41,” said Andrei Alekseyenko, a senior official with Russian occupation authorities.

In areas under Ukrainian control, at least 16 people have died and 31 are missing, according to latest figures from Kyiv.

The 6 June breach of the Russia-controlled Kakhovka dam inundated huge swathes of the Kherson region, forcing thousands to flee and sparking fears of an environmental disaster.

Kyiv has accused Moscow of blowing up the dam on the Dnipro River, while Russia has blamed Ukraine.

Elsewhere today, leaders and representatives from more than 60 countries are expected in London for a two-day conference to secure funding to help Ukraine recover from the ravages of war.

The International Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023, hosted by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is the second to be held since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

The first, in Lugano, Switzerland, in July last year saw Kyiv’s allies commit to supporting Ukraine through what is expected to be an eye-wateringly expensive and decades-long recovery.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told them rebuilding could cost at least $750 billion.

The World Bank has since put an estimate of $14 billion on Ukraine’s immediate needs for repairing the damage caused by the bitter fighting.

But a recent study by the World Bank, the UN, the European Union and the Ukrainian government said the wider recovery of the economy would cost $441 billion.

Whatever the final amount, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has likened it to the amount of money needed for the US-led Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II.

Among the dignitaries attending the meeting are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will dial in via videolink, as his armed forces try to wrest back control of territory seized by Russian troops.

© AFP 2023