The Ukrainian authorities promised to complete the construction of the dam in order to finally deprive the Crimea of water

The Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Anton Korinevich at a meeting with the head of the North Crimean Canal Sergei Shevchenko said that he considers it unacceptable to supply water to the drought-stricken Crimea before the "de-occupation" of the peninsula.

"We discussed issues important for the functioning of the canal, in particular the need to complete the dam at the 107th kilometer of the canal, which, on the one hand, maximally excludes the ingress of water to the temporarily occupied Crimea, and on the other, will significantly improve the measures for reclamation of the southern regions of the Kherson region", - RIA Novosti quotes Korinevich's statement.

What kind of work on the "completion" of the dam Kiev is planning to carry out is not yet detailed. Meanwhile, the Russian authorities called what was happening "funny". As the head of the State Committee for Interethnic Relations of Crimea Albert Kangiev noted, water has not been supplied through the North Crimean Canal for more than six years.

In 2014, after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, Ukraine closed the sluices of the canal through which Crimea received about 85% of fresh water from the territory of Ukraine. This became part of Kiev's sanctions in response to the "annexation" of the peninsula by the Russian side.

The closure of the locks of the canal, built in the middle of the last century, provoked a severe water crisis on the peninsula, which was especially aggravated during the drought of 2019-2020.

Due to the lack of water, the rivers and reservoirs of the Crimea have become shallow. The authorities tried to solve the problem of laying water pipelines, involving army units in the work, but these efforts were not enough. In 2020, in a number of settlements of the peninsula, an economy regime was introduced, water was supplied to consumers by the hour. However, this did not correct the situation either. In order to provide the population with water, the Russian authorities have adopted a program worth 48 billion rubles. It involves the reconstruction of water supply systems, the creation of artesian wells and the construction of seawater desalination plants.