Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Donetsk and Luhansk's catastrophic water shortage is being caused by the Russian invasion's destruction of a 70-year-old canal. Russian sources say it can't be restored until the end of the decade at the earliest, even if Russia captures the source in Ukrainian territory. ⬇️

2/ The occupied east of Ukraine is a naturally arid region, with no large rivers. This proved a challenge to the industrialists who built the region's coal and iron mines in the 19th century. Industrial activity severely depleted the region's groundwater.

3/ To allow for a big expansion in the region's industry, the Soviet Union embarked on a project in 1955-58 to build a canal 133.4 km (89.9 miles) in length to bring water from the Siverskyi Donets river in the north of the region to Yasynuvata near Donetsk city.

4/ An extension called the South Donbass Water Supply runs further south from Donetsk to near Mariupol. Because Mariupol was still Ukrainian-held until 2022, the Ukrainians repaired it after 2014 and allowed the 'Donetsk People's Republic' to use the water supply.

5/ The canal has a complex structure. Only about 107 km is a traditional trapezoidal channel, with the rest comprised of long sections of 2 m (6 ft) wide siphon pipes over rivers, railways and gullies.

6/ As well as the waterworks associated with the canal, the infrastructure includes 17 reservoirs and 18 filtration stations, plus 64 pumping stations. When it was working, the canal had a capacity of 64 million m³ of water, transporting it at 43 m³ of water per second.

7/ The canal is now in ruins thanks to the war. It was damaged in the first round of fighting in 2014 and was destroyed after 2022. The canal's geography has meant that it has defined the front line for long stretches, particularly around Chasiv Yar.

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1884907787303473207

8/ The structure of the canal has been wrecked along with the long pipe sections and many of the pumping stations. Apart from shell damage, sections have reportedly been demolished or filled in to allow for the passage of Russian vehicles.

9/ The source of the canal is a large basin and reservoir at Raihorodok, near Sloviansk in what is still Ukrainian-held territory. Russia has never held it, even during the initial stages of the 2022 invasion. The front line in the area has changed little since October 2022.

10/ As the Russian warblogger 'MONTIAN' comments, "the Seversky Donets – Donbass Canal is practically destroyed, littered with shells and mines, corpses and skeletons of burnt equipment, and the dams and filtration stations are smashed to pieces.

https://x.com/markito0171/status/1933448583866408992

11/ "To restore the water supply to Donbass, the front line must at least move 40-50 kilometers, or even more, away from Sloviansk.

And many hundreds of billions of rubles that will need to be invested in establishing the entire water supply system."

12/ 'Donetsk Infantry' points out:

"The Seversky Donets-Donbass (SD-D) canal that previously fed the DPR has been destroyed, and the giant pumps and pipes used in the construction of the SD-D are no longer produced."

13/ "We need to build a new SD-D from scratch. All Russian manufacturers will be able to produce the plastic pipes needed for this in 3 years ...

Thus, even if we can start building a new SD-D in 2026, water will flow through it no earlier than 2029." /end

Sources:
🔹 uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0…
🔹 infodon.org.ua/postal/358
🔹 svoi.city/articles/87290…
🔹 t.me/montian_offici…
🔹 t.me/infantry_1/228…