In the temporarily occupied Crimea, a water crisis may occur as early as the fall of 2024, provided that there is no certain amount of precipitation. First of all, residents of Simferopol and the central part of Crimea will feel this.
Points of attention
- Experts predict a possible water crisis in the occupied Crimea in the fall of 2024 in the event of a rainfall deficit.
- Residents of Simferopol and the central part of Crimea may become the first victims of the water crisis.
- Ukraine is facing ecocide due to Russia's destruction of forests in the occupied territories, which leads to serious environmental problems.
The water crisis in Crimea will hit the center of the peninsula
This assumption was made by the professor, member of the expert council of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development of Crimea, coordinator of the working group "Ecology and Economy" of the EM KP Yevhen Khlobistov.
A water crisis may occur in the Crimea in a month or a half in the absence of a certain amount of precipitation. Then the shallowing of reservoirs may occur and a water crisis may begin.
Evgeny Khlobistov
Environmental professor
At the same time, the expert noted that the residents of Simferopol and the central part of Crimea will primarily feel the lack of water.
According to Khlobistov, problems with water supply in Crimea are also compounded by the occupying authorities of the peninsula, which conducts an unfair distribution of the available water, supplying it first to the territory where the Russian military is stationed, as well as to the resorts of Yalta, Yevpatoria, and Feodosia.
The uncontrolled increase in the number of the population and in general the entire militarization of the peninsula lead to the fact that the military receives water primarily without restrictions. If there is a shortage of water, it will primarily affect the average residents of Simferopol and Central Crimea. The "authority" of Crimea will store water until the last in Sevastopol, where the military is stationed, and in the resorts of Yalta, Yevpatoria, and Feodosia, so that even a few vacationers do not experience inconvenience with water supply.
At the same time, the expert noted that there is one positive point for Crimeans — this year's summer season on the peninsula is practically "dead" and water needs have significantly decreased.
Khlobistov emphasized that "the situation has been abnormally dry on the peninsula for four months now, but it is too early to talk about drought, it will be clear later.
Russia is committing ecocide in Ukraine
With the help of satellite images, NGL.media was able to establish that during the two years of the war, the Russians completely destroyed more than 60,000 hectares of forests in the territories they occupied.
According to the minimum estimate, the total value of the lost forest exceeds UAH 14 billion — this is only direct damage, that is, the value of the wood that could be obtained from these more than 60,000 hectares. These losses do not take into account environmental consequences, the elimination of which can be much more expensive, the investigation says.
It is noted that among the natural territories most affected in Donetsk region is the "Holy Mountains" national nature park, located in the Kramatorsk and Bakhmut districts. Since the beginning of the invasion, fighting has been going on in this area, as a result of which 80% of the park has been destroyed.
In addition, the Russians are engaged in active logging in the Luhansk region, where before the war only 11% of the territory was occupied by forests. In the predominantly steppe Luhansk region, forests have a very important function — they save from sandstorms, retain moisture and stop soil erosion.
Also, today about 40-45% of forest territories in Kharkiv Oblast are mined or damaged by fires.
In 2022, during the occupation of Kherson Oblast, which is one of the least (5%) forested regions of Ukraine, a large part of the forests suffered from fires, shelling and felling.
