Panic in Crimea after Kakhovka hydroelectric power station explosion - what will happen to water on the occupied peninsula

The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, which is under the control of the occupiers, has become a real catastrophe, the scale of which we have yet to realise. The Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as Crimea, face serious consequences. The North Crimean Canal, which carries water to the occupied peninsula, is also under the threat of shallowing.

Read OBOZREVATEL's article to find out what is happening in Crimea and what the threat of the hydroelectric power station blowing up is.

Water is melting before our eyes

On the morning of June 6, when it became known about the emergency at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, the governor of the occupied Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, was quick to say that the residents of the peninsula had nothing to worry about: they say that Crimea is not in danger of flooding. However, he admitted that "there is a risk of shallowing of the North Crimean Canal".

The representative of the occupation authorities also hastened to state that there is more than enough drinking water now: "The reservoirs, even those that were previously 15-20% full, are now about 80% full".

And he confidently noted that "work is currently underway to minimise water losses in the canal". However, the latter statement has nothing to do with reality - the occupiers are certainly not in a position to influence this.

The occupation authorities are trying to reassure Crimean residents that the "incident" will not affect them in any way, as the canal's water intake begins above the dam. However, the lowering of the reservoir level directly affects the volume of water entering the canal.

According to OBOZREVATEL's sources, the North Crimean Canal has begun to rapidly shrink: the water level is dropping by 15-20 centimetres every hour. "I think that in two or three days, we can forget about the supply of fresh water to Crimea. And this situation will last for a long time - we understand that the supply can only be resumed after repairs. More precisely, after the new construction of a hydraulic structure - and this may take not only months, but possibly more than one year," says our interlocutor.

While Russian propagandists are working hard on the payroll to create stories that "everything is fine with water in Crimea", the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, was forced to admit that the flow of water into the North Crimean Canal is indeed "sharply reduced". And, of course, he accused the Ukrainians of "sabotage", one of the goals of which, according to him, is to "deprive Crimea of water". At the same time, he kept silent about the fact that it is the Russian military that has been controlling the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station for more than a year.

Crimea is on edge

Objectively speaking, the peninsula has lived without fresh water from the North Crimean Canal for eight years, and it would be a mistake to think that it will "instantly dry up". However, the consequences are indeed unavoidable, and they will be felt more and more every day.

After the dam burst, the Russian company Voda Kryma announced a partial water cut-off in Simferopol, Kerch, Dzhankoy, Feodosia and several areas of the peninsula on June 6. The reason given was "the need for repairs", allegedly unrelated to the accident at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. However, local residents did not believe this.

"They said that only a few streets in Kerch would be without water, but they cut off almost the entire city," a resident of the occupied city told OBOZREVATEL.

In the comments to the publication "Water of Crimea" on the Russian social network VK, angry residents list the addresses that are already without water, and some ask about possible shutdowns. In response, representatives of the company recommend stocking up on water, as "there may be a decrease in pressure in the system".

"The water supply will be cut off (or the volume will be reduced) in those settlements that receive water from the North Crimean Canal. But the "authorities" are afraid to admit that they are dependent on the hydroelectric power station blow-up. They have already announced that tomorrow the water supply will also be bad," says an OBOZREVATEL source from Simferopol.

According to him, panic is growing in the city - people have started sweeping water bottles off supermarket shelves.

"Everyone understands that we will not hear the truth about the real state of affairs and what will happen next. That's why everyone is stocking up," he said.

In Crimea, they say that there are indeed reserves in the reservoirs now, but this is due to both favourable weather and the fact that the canal was working at the time.

But the reserves are not endless, and irrigation will now be a problem. Fields planted with rice without water from the canal will surely disappear, not to mention other crops that find it difficult to survive under the scorching Crimean sun.

In 2022, more than 600 hectares were allocated for rice in Crimea, and in 2023, they announced an increase in the area under crops to 3,500 hectares. But now it is not to be.

And the so-called "Head of the State Council of Crimea" Vladimir Konstantinov said: "For many years I have been saying and asserting that the water strategy of Crimea should be built without the North Crimean Canal. If it is - good, if it is not - we should have enough of everything without it. And here is an example. A very short time has passed, people have just started to build some businesses, and then this trouble comes along."

Konstantinov, like other representatives of the occupation authorities, is just as bad with cause and effect. The point is simple: if there was no occupation, all these troubles would not have happened.

Providing water to Crimea was declared one of the goals of the Russian "special operation", as Putin cynically admitted earlier. Now, judging by the actions of the occupiers, this goal has ceased to be relevant, as have many others. And the people... What about people? For the Putin regime, they are simply expendable.