Water reserves to last two weeks: Russia destroys dam on Siverskyi Donets with aerial bombs
Photo: dam on the Siverskyi Donets (wikipedia.org)
On Monday, March 23, Russia struck the dam on the Siverskyi Donets near Raihorodok with two guided aerial bombs (KABs). Water reserves in the reservoirs are expected to last for about two weeks, states Ihor Novak, Director General of the municipal enterprise Compania Voda Donbasu (Donbas Water Company), according to Suspilne.
According to him, due to the hydraulic structure destroyed by the bombing, it is currently impossible to fill the water intake facilities at the first and second pumping stations of the Siverskyi Donets–Donbas Canal.
"Currently, there is enough water for about two weeks. Therefore, water supply schedules will be introduced in the cities of the Donetsk region. We also strongly urge people to use water rationally and sparingly," Novak said.
In the fall of 2022, Russian occupying forces had already blown up a dam on the Siverskyi Donets after retreating from Lyman due to the successful offensive of Ukrainian troops. Ukraine later rebuilt it using donor funds.
In late February, the Russian army destroyed a dam near the city of Kostiantynivka. At the time, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets stressed that Russia had deliberately created the threat of a humanitarian catastrophe.
In addition, in December, Russia struck the dam of the Pechenihy Reservoir. In the Pechenihy community, traffic along the roadway of the Pechenihy dam was completely suspended.
It later became known that the risk of flooding of settlements remained in the Kharkiv region following the Russian strike on the dam of the Pechenihy Reservoir.
The regional military administration reported that the region has prepared response plans developed back in 2022, since the enemy had already targeted this critical infrastructure facility at that time.
