Drought In Donetsk Drinking Water Crisis In Occupied Ukraine
Donetsk, Mariupol Severe Water Shortage
Water trickles out of taps for only a few hours every few days, often discolored and undrinkable. Entire neighborhoods have resorted to survival tactics like hauling water in buckets and collecting rainwater. Donetsk and Mariupol, as well as smaller towns around them, now face a deepening emergency. The combination of destroyed infrastructure, failed reconstruction projects, and collapsing reservoirs has plunged the region into a full-scale ecological and social catastrophe.
On July 22, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels with hundreds of thousands of followers published an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, signed by residents of occupied Donetsk. "Donetsk has had no stable water supply since 2022," the letter states. "Now it's only once every three days, sometimes less."
In Mariupol, water is reportedly supplied every two days, though residents claim that timetable is often not followed. In both cities, water rarely reaches the upper floors of residential buildings. Households rely on improvised wells, irregular truck deliveries, or plastic tanks scattered throughout neighborhoods. In the summer heat, many of these tanks turn green with algae.
"Over the past eight days, we had water for four hours only. It came out orange," said Olha, a resident of Yenakiyeve near Donetsk. "There are 17 barrels of water for the whole city. The heat is unbearable. Carrying water to the fourth floor without a lift? It's torture."
https://www.rferl.org/a/donetsk-mariupol-water-shoratge-russia-donbas-war-invasion-crisis/33492778.html
Water trickles out of taps for only a few hours every few days, often discolored and undrinkable. Entire neighborhoods have resorted to survival tactics like hauling water in buckets and collecting rainwater. Donetsk and Mariupol, as well as smaller towns around them, now face a deepening emergency. The combination of destroyed infrastructure, failed reconstruction projects, and collapsing reservoirs has plunged the region into a full-scale ecological and social catastrophe.
On July 22, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels with hundreds of thousands of followers published an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, signed by residents of occupied Donetsk. "Donetsk has had no stable water supply since 2022," the letter states. "Now it's only once every three days, sometimes less."
In Mariupol, water is reportedly supplied every two days, though residents claim that timetable is often not followed. In both cities, water rarely reaches the upper floors of residential buildings. Households rely on improvised wells, irregular truck deliveries, or plastic tanks scattered throughout neighborhoods. In the summer heat, many of these tanks turn green with algae.
"Over the past eight days, we had water for four hours only. It came out orange," said Olha, a resident of Yenakiyeve near Donetsk. "There are 17 barrels of water for the whole city. The heat is unbearable. Carrying water to the fourth floor without a lift? It's torture."
https://www.rferl.org/a/donetsk-mariupol-water-shoratge-russia-donbas-war-invasion-crisis/33492778.html
