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Occupied Donetsk suffers water supply problems due to power outage in Russia, Kyiv says

by Kateryna Hodunova July 22, 2024 1:11 PM 2 min read
Illustrative picture of Russian-occupied Donetsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Photo published on Nov. 5, 2015. (artfotoss/Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Water supply from the Don River to Russian-occupied Donetsk has stopped due to a power outage in Russia, Ukraine's National Resistance Center reported on July 21.

Several Russian regions and part of the occupied Crimea were cut off from electricity. In total, about a million people were left without power almost simultaneously.

Major power system disruptions and large-scale blackouts occurred in southern Russia and on the peninsula after an emergency power outage at a Rostov Nuclear Power Plant unit on July 20, according to Current Time, a project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

A power outage in Russia caused the breakdown of the Don-Donbas water supply system's pumping stations, the National Resistance Center, run by Ukraine's special forces, said in a report.

"Due to the power outage in Russia, the pumping stations of the newly built Don-Donbas canal are out of order, and the water supply has stopped completely. It will take months to repair, and the situation in the occupied territories has deteriorated," the center said.

Donetsk residents have been experiencing interruptions in water supply, as the Siversky Donets-Donbass water pipeline is not functioning due to the hostilities, the statement read.

Russian proxies had been building a new water pipeline from the Don for two years to solve the problem, but its capacity was too low, according to the center.

Governor Vasily Golubev claimed on July 20 that Rostov Oblast was targeted by a drone attack overnight. The governor later wrote on Telegram that more than 26 drones had been downed overnight.

In Crimea, the widespread blackouts were attributed to the heat wave. Temporary electricity supply schedules were introduced in several cities on the peninsula.

Drone attack damages power, water supply in Poltava Oblast
A Russian drone attack in Poltava Oblast overnight left thousands of people without power and running water, Governor Filip Pronin reported on July 20.

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