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Jonny Tickle Ukraine s policy to deprive the residents of Crimea of water is an attempt at genocide, according to Russia s permanent representative to the OSCE, who blasted Kiev s long-term blockade of a vital canal to the peninsula.
In 2014, the Ukrainian government constructed a makeshift dam on the North Crimean Canal, which previously provided 85 percent of the local water supply. It connected the region to the River Dnieper, the fourth-longest river in Europe.
Following the reabsorption of Crimea into Russia, the same Kiev ordered the channel to be blocked off. The area is now suffering from a water shortage, with climate change and a lack of rainfall also having an effect.
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Jonny Tickle Seven years after Ukraine erected a makeshift dam to block the water supply to ‘disputed’ Crimea, Kiev’s emissary to the region threatened that the Black Sea peninsula will receive no water until Moscow lifts its “occupation.”
Writing on Facebook, Anton Korinevich, designated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to oversee policy on the matter, said that the blockade on the North Crimean Canal would be soon be made permanent. Before the canal was filled in, it provided around 85 percent of the local water supply.
The makeshift dam, hastily constructed in 2014 by the Ukrainian government, has increased the risk of a potential humanitarian crisis, with the peninsula already suffering from shortages due to climate change and a lack of rainfall. Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukraine of human rights violations and has criticized international organizations for remaining silent.