Kiev- 

cut off Ukraine fresh water from the

Crimean peninsula after the

annexation of the

peninsula of

Russia in 2014, causing the fuse to

ignite a

crisis between the

two sides amid the

suffering of

more than 2.2 million of the

scarcity of

drinking water and irrigation.

Ukraine - which through the Northern Canal meets about 85% of Crimea's need for fresh water - has refused to open the canal, and its foreign minister, Dmitry Kuleba, "confirmed that this will only take place in the context of ending the occupation of the peninsula," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier hinted at "good ideas and plans to build an additional dam known as the Great Construction Project 107 kilometers from the North Crimean Canal".

Environmentalists have warned that the regular use of available water from natural runoff reservoirs and underground sources has led to soil salinization.


losses

According to official statistics, the agricultural sector in the Crimea incurred losses of about $2.7 billion, and the area of ​​arable land decreased from 130,000 hectares in 2013 to 14,000 hectares in 2017.

The drop in the water level in the reservoirs by 93% led to the long hours of water being cut off from the population, which exceeded - for example - 6 hours per day for the residents of Simferopol, the capital of Crimea.

The interruption of fresh water also cast a shadow on the tourism movement in the Crimea, and prompted some resorts and hotels to set up special desalination plants for sea water.

old crisis

Historians consider that the escalating water crisis is old and imposed itself on the Soviet Union and its successors.

The writer and political analyst Oleksandr Bali told Al Jazeera Net that "the need for water and the absence of land and railway roads leading to it for the purpose of supply (except with Ukraine) are the main reasons that prompted Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to transfer Crimea administratively to Ukraine in 1954 and not with the aim of strengthening unity between Russians and Ukrainians. ".

He added, "Russia knows this well, and if it were not for its need for the lands and coasts of Crimea for military purposes in the first place, it would not have thought about opening the issue of the Soviets' inability to solve it."

This view explains the Ukrainian separatists’ efforts to control the road cities in Ukraine in 2014, linking Russia with Crimea, led by Mariupol, and the cost of supporting the peninsula reached 1.5 trillion Russian rubles in the first five years of the annexation, and its support budget was estimated at 104 billion rubles in 2021 (about 1.42 Billion dollar).

Thus, the share of Crimea exceeds the share of the southern regions of the Russian federal support, ahead of the republics of Chechnya and Dagestan in the North Caucasus, according to Russian government data.

Ukraine cut off fresh water from Crimea after Russia took control (Al-Jazeera)

Russian intervention

As part of Moscow's attempts to solve the problem of communication with the region, it revived again a Soviet project to build the "Kerch Strait Bridge" or "Crimea Bridge" to be the longest in Europe (19 kilometers), but the bridge did not solve the water problem.

Meanwhile, Russia accuses Ukraine of violating human rights and international laws by refusing to resume water supplies to Crimea.

On the other hand, Kuleba considers that "the Russian narrative about the humanitarian crisis is exaggerated", and the Ukrainian presidency believes that "it is unacceptable for an occupying power (Russia) to talk about rights violations and that - according to the Fourth Geneva Convention - the occupying power must provide the civilian population with all the necessary resources Including water.

In turn, former Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov commented on his country's crisis with Russia, saying, "Should we supply water to the unit of Russian forces and missiles deployed there? Are we responsible for this? Does Ukraine have some international obligations?"

In light of the great Ukrainian discontent with Russia after the annexation of Crimea, other parties believe that Ukraine has weakened its popular position on the peninsula, which is demanding its return.

Not effective

In this context, editor-in-chief of the Russian opposition website Polit Navigator Sergey Stepanov considers that Ukraine's policies regarding Crimean water and, before that, electricity, "are not effective, which has reflected on the attitude of the population of the peninsula towards Ukraine."

According to Stepanov, "Ukraine should have sold water to Crimea instead of cutting it off to make profits and stimulate its political and economic presence."

He adds that "Kiev should replace the policy of populism with rationality, because selling water to Crimea does not mean recognition that it is Russian, but rather means presenting Ukraine as a protector of the population and a solution to their problems," according to his assessment.

On the other hand, he points to the "responsibility of the successive local authorities in the (self-governing) Republic of Crimea who neglected the maintenance of water transmission networks, which caused about 30% of water to be wasted in dilapidated pipes that have not been replaced since the era of the Soviet Union."


war fuse

The water issue tops the list of priorities in the positions of the two countries, which makes it a candidate to ignite a new war between them, according to observers.

An expert at the "Ukrainian Institute for the Future" Ilya Kosa says that "the possibility of war is possible because Russia is unable to secure sufficient fresh water from other sources beyond the North Crimean Canal, which may push it to carry out a limited military operation under which it seizes the canal that originates from the Kherson region, north of Crimea. ', according to him.

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, he believes that Ukraine "will be forced to fight in defense at the time, or it will be forced to give water, but the population will not accept this and riots will occur."

On the other hand, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian President Andriy Yermak downplays this possibility and sees "difficulty in the outbreak of war due to the water crisis in Crimea, because "today there is enough water for those who live there," according to him.

As for political analyst Oleksandr Bali, he talks about other political and economic means for Moscow to force Kiev and pressure it to resume water supplies to Crimea before resorting to the military option, "which is not excluded in the Russian mentality," as he put it.

He says, "The transfer of gas, the need for quantities of electricity, escalation in the eastern regions, and hybrid and cyber warfare in general, are strong cards in the hands of Russia. There is no doubt that it plans to use them at a time and place, instead of resorting directly to a war option that will have political and economic repercussions on Moscow."