Crimean authorities have introduced a high alert regime in connection with the threat of severe water shortages, according to a document published on Crimea’s official government website.
The measures were taken following the shortage of water supplies for drinking and household needs in the Crimean cities of Kerch, Feodosia and the Leninsky district, Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov said in statement Friday.
The shortage results from the flow of the water to the republic via the North Crimean Canal being halted, the Interfax news agency reported. Kiev suspended water supplies in 2014, citing the illegitimacy of the annexation, the report said.
The Crimean Peninsula first experienced problems with its water supply after its annexation from Ukraine by Russia in March 2014. Kiev initially attributed the disruptions to technical problems and then cited water supply debts owed by Crimea.
The peninsula has also repeatedly suffered power blockades, and Ukrainian authorities have suspended train, bus and air services with Crimea and halted food supplies.
