Donetsk region is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster due to water supply interruptions: The Insider
At the height of the extremely hot summer of 2025, the Donetsk region was on the verge of a humanitarian disaster due to water supply interruptions. About this reports The Insider.
“The water supply system in the region gradually collapsed during the war started by Russia in 2014, and suffered especially after its full-scale invasion. Officials who did not pay attention to the problem for many years found themselves completely powerless at the time of the drought, the report says.
Since 1958, the main source of water for the region has been the 133-km-long Siverskyi Donets-Donbass canal, which provided 94% of the region’s needs, connecting the Siverskyi Donets and Kalmius rivers. A network of reservoirs was created for emergencies. An important role was also played by the South Donbas Waterworks, which supplied water from the canal to the southern regions, in particular to Mariupol.
“Since 2014, the water infrastructure of Donbas, despite its critical importance for the region’s livelihood, has been regularly hit during hostilities. The pumping and filtration stations that provide the operation of the Severskyi Donets – Donbass water pipeline came under fire from pro-Russian separatists, notes The Insider.
Until 2022, the canal continued to supply water to the occupied part of Donetsk region. “privileged” tariffs, which are twice as low as in the territory controlled by Ukraine, and the calculations were carried out “by barter” – energy and chlorine from captured enterprises, reports The Insider.
With the beginning of a full-scale invasion, the canal infrastructure found itself in the zone of active fighting. The water supply system, which provided drinking water to 4 million people and supplied industry, stopped functioning. The system of canals and pipelines has been damaged by many months of shelling. In addition, water cannot flow without the electricity required to operate the pumps and filters.
In 2023, during the battles for Avdiivka, the dam of the Karliv reservoir was destroyed, which created a risk of flooding the surrounding territories. In 2024, Russian troops blew up the Kurakhiv reservoir dam, which was used to cool the local CHP plant.
There was also the destruction of the dam of the Oskil reservoir in the Kharkiv region, which was blown up by Russian forces during the retreat in September 2022. This reservoir used to maintain the water level in the channel “Siverskyi Donets – Donbas”.
As a result, the region lost large reserves of fresh water and suffered a serious disturbance of the ecological balance. The occupation authorities bet on a water pipeline built at the end of 2022 from the Rostov region, but it turned out to be underpowered and operated with constant failures.
