Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ The occupied regions of Ukraine are facing a deepening ecological and economic crisis, with critical shortages of water, rapid desertification, and the collapse of agriculture and industries across the occupied territories. Russia is doing little to resolve it. ⬇️

2/ Southern and eastern Ukraine have a naturally hot and dry summer climate that is being exacerbated by climate change. Until Soviet irrigation initiatives in the 1950s, the southern mainland of Ukraine and the interior of the Crimean peninsula were arid semi-deserts.

3/ The now-destroyed Kakhovka Reservoir alone supplied more than 12,000 km of canals in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, with reservoirs supplying Crimea and the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. Water supplies depend on infrastructure neglected or destroyed in the war.

4/ The consequences are now becoming clear. While shortages have occurred before, they are now on a scale that hasn't previously been experienced. Warblogger Sergey Kolyasnikov highlights what is happening in the Donbas:

5/ "Donbass is suffocating without water.

For example, State Services, SCHEDULE of work of water pumping stations of the TOREZ PUMPING STATION BRANCH of the DPR State Unitary Enterprise "DONBASS WATER" with a reduced daily limit on drinking water supply for July 2025.

6/ "Once every three days for four hours! Once every nine days for two hours!

... don't pretend that everything is fine. Because in Donbass there is an emergency situation with water, which is getting worse every day."

7/ The Rybar Telegram channel notes: "The summer season and heat again exacerbate Donetsk's chronic problem of recent years – water shortages and sewerage problems."

8/ "Shelling and destruction of infrastructure have become a harsh reality for residents. But even though the front line is moving west, the water situation is not getting any easier.

9/ "The traditional explanation - they say we need to take [Ukrainian-held] Slovyansk and restore the Siversky Donetsk-Donbas canal - no longer seems convincing to many. This is a long-term task. And people need water now...

10/ "Regional officials should more actively work out temporary water supply schemes, instead of shifting responsibility to military actions. Local solutions are needed now – and they can be found."

11/ Neglect of the infrastructure is also a critical problem. Alexander Kofman, the Chairman of the 'Donetsk People's Republic' Public Chamber, has called the water situation "catastrophic" in a radio interview. He says that the problem is that existing infrastructure is broken.

12/ It is "worn out in Donetsk by 98 percent. That is, no matter how much water comes in, it leaks underground. Yes, they are actively repairing the utilities now. But what does it mean to change the utilities in the entire city? This problem cannot be solved in a short time."

13/ The scale of the leak problem can be judged from the announcement in February 2025 that engineers in the 'DPR' had to fix 251 leaks in water supply and sewerage networks in a single day. 50% of the water pumped into the network is said to be lost through leaks.

14/ Russia has tried to address these problems through the construction of a pipeline linking the river Don in Russia's Rostov region to Donetsk. However, this only increased the supply by 30% and it frequently breaks down in the winter due to frost damage.

15/ The shortage of water is having a similarly catastrophic effect in the occupied Kherson region, which was an agricultural breadbasket before the war. It's now returning to its pre-1950s condition of semi-desert.

16/ "Now agriculture is in complete decline, in absolute decline," says Serhiy Rybalko of the Kherson Regional Council.

17/ "That is, the absence of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, the absence of irrigation has led to the fact that there is absolutely no livestock farming or vegetable growing. The absence of irrigation means that this region is very quickly turning into a desert."

18/ Farmers have experienced poor harvests for the last two years and are expecting another poor harvest this year. This has led to inability to pay rents, bankruptcies and the abandonment of farms. Many of the local population are leaving as a result.

19/ Towns and villages in the occupied part of the Kherson region, which relied on the Kakhovka Reservoir, are also becoming increasingly uninhabitable. There is too little water to meet demand, and water pressure is too low to reach the upper floors of multi-storey buildings.

20/ Some places have it even worse. In the riverside village of Lyubymivka, there has been no water for two years. The Russian authorities have promised bottled water for the residents, but it has not been delivered. They queue instead at water towers that are barely functioning.

21/ Apart from the lack of water for household or agricultural needs, it is also impacting industry and public safety. Firefighters have been unable to put out fires, leading to multiple properties being destroyed. The Russian-installed authorities have done little to help.

22/ "People complain that they correspond with the water utility, call, write, beg. There is no answer, and there is no access to water either. And officials at the district and regional levels continue to claim that 'the situation is stable.'" /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/rybar/71626
🔹 t.me/SergeyKolyasni…
🔹 radiosputnik.ru/20250716/kofma…
🔹 ostro.org/ru/articles/ne…
🔹 bloknot-herson.ru/news/vody-net-…