The army will help. The Ukrainian water blockade of Crimea will end
Specialists from the Ministry of Defense completed ahead of schedule the construction of a water pipeline to save Sevastopol from drought in the conditions of the Ukrainian water blockade, with which Kyiv is blackmailing the more than 2 million population of Crimea, demanding political concessions from the Russian leadership.
The main base of the Black Sea Fleet will now be additionally provided with 15 thousand cubic meters of water per day. To do this, the military laid a 10-kilometer water pipeline from a quarry near Balaklava, filled with underground springs.
“A unique technology was used - a floating pontoon pumping station with six high-performance pumps. The station's capacity is 15 thousand cubic meters per day. This station is fully automated, modern technologies are used. Also, together with Sevastopol State University, a unique buoy was developed that allows you to measure the water level in the quarry and make a dynamic assessment of the situation,” Alexey Trubachev, a representative of the Main Military Construction Directorate No. 4, told reporters.
Now, unlike other cities on the peninsula, Sevastopol will not introduce a strict water supply schedule, said Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev. In Simferopol, Alushta and Yalta, water has been supplied for only a few hours a day since autumn.
Ahead of the military in Sevastopol is the second stage of work to “capture” the waters of the Belbek River. Instead of being discharged into the sea, the river will be directed to supply Sevastopol. This additional source is capable of meeting more than half of the city's needs.
“The work is being carried out around the clock; more than 320 people and 100 pieces of equipment are involved in the site. Construction readiness of the facility exceeds 50%. The full range of work will be completed on March 1, 2021. Commissioning of the facility will allow the supply of 50 thousand cubic meters of fresh water per day to supply Sevastopol,” said Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov.
Senator Ekaterina Altabaeva admitted in a conversation with PolitNavigator that Sergei Shoigu’s department provided invaluable assistance to Sevastopol. No other structure, the politician is sure, could cope with this task so quickly.
“We understand perfectly well that such a volume of work in such a short time and with such quality would never have been completed if not for the active participation of the Ministry of Defense in carrying out the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation. It is impossible to overestimate the contribution of the Ministry of Defense to the work that is currently being implemented. The Kadykovsky quarry has helped the city a lot; we also get water from Inkerman and from Lake Gasforta. We very much hope that the water intake at Belbek will be completed by March 1st. The Ministry of Defense is involved in almost all of these projects,” the senator said.
The help of the Ministry of Defense was also noted by the Sevastopol politician, ex-member of the Verkhovna Rada Vadim Kolesnichenko: “If it weren’t for the Ministry of Defense, we would generally suck our paws like a bear in the desert, so we can only take off our hat to the military and thank them, say thank you for We have the Armed Forces, which know how and can organize any matter, both in an emergency and not in an emergency, both with the construction of Covid departments and in the supply of water.”
Vladimir Putin assured at a recent press conference that, according to scientists, there are sufficient reserves of fresh water underground near Crimea so as not to bow to Ukraine, in retaliation for the choice of the Crimeans in 2014 to block the canal with water from the Dnieper.
However, these reserves still need to be reached. Kolesnichenko fears that the second winter in a row in Crimea will be snowless, and the dry reservoirs will not be filled.
“We are facing quite troubling times. We need to explain to people how to save water, but no one does this.” – the politician shares his concerns.
Senator Altabaeva is more optimistic.
“I don’t think that the water will be pumped out, because they say that a large underground reservoir of water was found in the Kadykovsky quarry. I really hope that we will not have a waterless and snowless winter, that the existing reservoirs will be filled naturally,” she said.
The senator does not believe that politicians in Kyiv will come to their senses and lift the blockade.
“Common sense should tell Ukrainian politicians that the policy they are pursuing today is not in their interests, nor in the interests of the Ukrainian people or the country’s economy. But if they have already taken this path, then it is unlikely that in the near future it will be possible to count on water from the Dnieper flowing into the canal again,” argues Altabaeva.
Her colleague, Senator from Crimea Sergei Tsekov, believes that in the near future the peninsula will overcome the Ukrainian water blockade, as it once dealt with the transport and energy blockade. This means that military builders still have a lot of work to do.
“The problem of water supply in Crimea needs to be solved comprehensively. Not at the expense of any one global project, but at the expense of various sources - these are natural reservoirs, drilling wells, transferring water, if possible, reducing losses in networks due to their repair, desalination plants, large underground reservoirs under the Sea of Azov, – I think they are also quite achievable and will be used. I am convinced that in two or three years, before 24, we will actually completely resolve the issue of sustainable water supply for Crimea. Moreover, not only for drinking purposes, but also for agriculture. We will solve all these problems, just as we solved the issues of the energy blockade and the construction of the Crimean Bridge,” Tsekov said.
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