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Kremlin assures that Crimea’s water supply has ‘margin of safety’

The Ukrainian military shelled the Kakhovka hydropower plant overnight to June 6 presumably from an Olkha multiple launch rocket system, destroying the hydraulic valves and triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/. Crimea has some flexibility in terms of its water supply, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"There is a certain margin of safety, meaning the level of water in the reservoirs," Peskov said, answering a question about dangers for the water supply of Crimea after the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP.

"Otherwise, the situation is only developing now. Specialists are working there," he added.

According to the press secretary of the Russian leader, there are some inner-workings in Crimea to provide the peninsula with water even without using the North Crimean Canal.

"You know that strenuous measures were taken in the water supply of Crimea even before the canal was brought back to life. Therefore, there are certain inner-workings," the Kremlin spokesman said.

The Ukrainian military shelled the Kakhovka hydropower plant overnight to June 6 presumably from an Olkha multiple launch rocket system, destroying the hydraulic valves and triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. Water levels have already exceeded 10 meters in Novaya Kakhovka.

Now there are 14 settlements in the flood zone, in total about 80 may be inundated. Residents of nearby settlements are being evacuated, while authorities say that large-scale evacuations would not be required. The destruction of the hydroelectric power station caused serious damage to the environment, farmlands along the Dnieper were washed away, and there is a risk of the North Crimean Canal drying up.