Water โcrisis Deepensโค in Russian-Occupied Donetsk as โOfficials Eye Slovenian โฃSupply
Donetsk, Ukraine – Residents inโค Russian-occupied areasโ of Ukraine’s Donetsk region face a worsening water crisis, prompting separatist leaderโ Denis Pushilin to propose โa controversial solution: diverting water fromโ Slovenia. The proposal highlights the long-standing and escalating water shortages โplaguing the โregion, aโฃ problem exacerbated by conflict and infrastructure neglect.
The current difficulties echoโฃ a 2014 attempt by pro-Russian separatists, led by former FSB officer Igor Girkin, to seize control of โthe entire donetsk region.While Ukrainian forces liberated parts of the occupied territory in the summer of 2014,Russian-backedโ militants maintained control over cities like luhansk and Donetsk.โ
Unlike Crimea,where โUkraineโค cut off water โฃaccess following the 2014 annexation,Kyiv continued to allow water from the Siverian Donets River to flow into occupiedโค areas untilโ 2022,as the river supplied waterโ to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Mariupol.
Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Donetsk Filter Station operated as a relatively neutral site, accessibleโข to observers from the Association forโข Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and personnel from the Ukrainian-Russian Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC), established โin 2015 under the Minsk Agreements.โ Though, the channel frequently came under fire.
In 2021, occupation authorities signaled an intent to โคmodernize theโฃ region’s water infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly pledged approximately 30 billion hryvnia โค(roughly โฌ500 million) towards theโฃ project. Theseโ plans were abandoned following the February 2022 โinvasion,โ leaving โcriticalโข repairs and upgrades โunaddressed. The conflictโ directly impacted both the โcanal itself and the planned modernization of aging pipes, a problem dating back to the 1990s.