Report

Crimeans worry about water shortages after Kakhovka dam destroyed

The threat of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam had been looming since last autumn, before Russia left the city of Kherson. Since Tuesday, June 6, Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of being responsible for its explosion, which caused huge floods in areas controlled by Kiev as well as those held by Russian troops in the Kherson region. In Crimea, residents are worried about a sudden lack of water.

Northern Crimean Canal, fed since last spring by water that came from Novaya Kakhovka, a few kilometers from Djankoy. According to some residents interviewed by RFI, its level has already dropped by between 20 and 30 centimeters according to estimates. © Anissa El Jabri / RFI

Text by: Anissa El Jabri Follow

Advertising

Read more

From our special envoy in Djankoï,

It is a vital axis for the peninsula: the North Crimean Channel is fed by the Nova Kakhovka Dam, located on the banks of the Dnieper. After the 2014 annexation, Ukraine cut off the floodgates. Recirculating water was one of Moscow's strategic objectives and had long been celebrated on Russian screens.

From the start of the offensive on February 24, 2022, it took Russian paratroopers less than 24 hours to take control of the water supply. Images of a soldier on the dam opening the gates and streams of water hurtling down the canal again made headlines in Russia. In Djankoy, the first city in Crimea, south of the Kherson region, half the population even moved in front of the canal to attend the event.

On Tuesday, June 6, a few hours after the announcement of the destruction of the dam, located about 170 kilometers to the north, only a handful of the inhabitants of this garrison town took the cool along this vital axis or came to fish.

« 

Until two years ago, at this time of year,everything was already sunburned.

 »

Face closed, barely concealed anger, no one wanted to speak, to briefly point out that the water level had already dropped: between 20 and 30 centimeters, according to estimates. Crossed in a street lined with huge gardens overflowing with fruits and vegetables, Vladimir Ivanovich Alexeïenko is the only one to have poured out: "Two years ago, at this time of year, when the water of the canal was not yet flowing, everything was already burned by the sun, everything was already brown, says the pensioner. And now, you see, everything has already blossomed again."

There is water underground here, but it is mineral and salty, you cannot drink it. And that of the canal, well, that's life! When the earth drinks good water, it can produce, and if it is bad water, it is the Sahara desert. Of course, now there is a fear that we will not have water again. I have strawberries, peaches, pears, apple trees, even nuts grow. All this needs this good water of the canal. When there was no water, there was no harvest and this year we have a good harvest. My eldest son was already thinking about having pigs and a cow. Because you see how much grass there is here: absolutely everything is green. You see, in less than two years, everything has already blossomed again. Do you realize the quality of this water?

Crimean pensioner Vladimir Ivanovich Alexeyenko "fears he won't have water again" in Djankoy, once supplied with water by the Kekhokva dam

Anissa El Jabri

« 

Drinking water is more than enough " wrote briefly on his Telegram channel the leader of Crimea Sergei Axionov on Tuesday morning.

All the pollution from the dam explosion "will pour here

 »

Pending further clarification from local authorities, none of the events escaped the 37,000 residents of Zhankoy, including the "150 tons of engine oil" spilled into the Dnieper River following the destruction of the dam, according to Ukrainian officials. They warn of an environmental risk.

On local Telegram channels, people are already alarmed by water pollution: "Everything will pour here," it reads. In an interview with the state agency Ria Novosti, a professor at MGU University in Moscow also warned against heavy metal pollution: "A real chemical bomb."

Around Djankoï, as early as last spring, some farmers had revived rice and maize cultivation, reopened fish farms, some of which extend to the limits of the new fortifications built this autumn.

The canal provides a total of 85% of the water needs of Crimea and its 1.9 million inhabitants.

Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Read on on the same topics:

• Russia
• Ukraine
• Water
• Agriculture and Fisheries