Social media users, charities, and business owners have begun collecting drinking water for residents of northern occupied Crimea. The outlet Agentstvo reported this development.
According to the publication, collection drives through VK began this week. On July 13, the volunteer movement “We Are Together — Sevastopol” urged its followers to buy drinking water, and on July 14 the Crimean Tatar organization “Achyq Yurekler” (“Open Hearts”) made a similar appeal. Separate drives have also been organized by private individuals and businesses.
One of the organizers, Crimean karate coach Denis Tkachuk, told Agentstvo that on July 14 he distributed drinking water in Dzhankoi. He said residents took one ton of water in just 20 minutes.
“I arrived in a residential neighborhood, stopped near a supermarket, and opened the car. First I offered water to a few passersby, and then word of mouth spread quickly,” Tkachuk said.
The shortage of drinking water, the report says, is linked to Ukrainian strikes on energy facilities that began in June. When electricity is cut off, pumping stations stop operating. The problem is said to be most severe in the northern part of the peninsula.
On July 12, several pro-Russian Telegram channels published an appeal from residents of northern Crimea describing the situation as critical.
The appeal said that electricity had not been switched on for even an hour over the course of a week, that people were losing food, work, and their normal way of life, and that some areas had no water at all. The authors also said local authorities were not delivering water to settlements left completely without supply.
Agentstvo writes that the strikes on Crimea’s energy infrastructure are part of a broader Ukrainian campaign to blockade the occupied peninsula. Since May, Crimea has experienced fuel shortages, followed later by power outages and the shutdown of some enterprises. Local residents also say grocery stores in northern Crimea are closing because they cannot store perishable goods and are facing delivery disruptions.