SIMFEROPOL, July 9. /TASS/. The overall sum of damages sought by Crimea in its lawsuit against Ukraine over the blocking of water supply to the peninsula and other measures will exceed one trillion rubles (about $11 billion), Crimean State Council Chairman Vladimir Konstantinov has said.
"We have calculated the damages sustained by the budget of the Republic of Crimea as a result of the blocking of the water supply, which are substantiated by official documents. It stands at 152.2 billion rubles ($1.7 billion). This figure does not include losses sustained by entrepreneurs, public organizations and so on. There will be a probe. We will request expert assessments from various governmental agencies and bodies, and, certainly, this figure will grow and surpass one trillion rubles - we have all grounds to think that it will," the official told the Crimea-24 television channel on Saturday evening.
"[A similar inquiry into] the food blockade will follow," Konstantinov continued.
In his words, Crimea will also seek compensation of damages caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP)’s dam, and other sabotage acts committed by the Kiev government or forces loyal to it.
"Besides, we sustained certain damage as a result of the terror attack on the Crimean Bridge. It is also counted in billions [of rubles]," Konstantinov added.
The Arbitration Court of Crimea registered the water blockade lawsuit on July 3. The parties to be charged under the lawsuit are the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the State Water Resources Agency of Ukraine and the management of the North Crimean Canal. The claimant is the State Council of Crimea. The overall sum of damages mentioned in the lawsuit exceeds 152.2 billion rubles. The court hearing is scheduled for July 31.
In May 2014, Ukraine cut water supplies to Crimea from the Kherson Region via the North Crimean canal, which used to meet 90% of the peninsula’s demand. Since then, water demand has been supplied from local sources. The situation became critical in 2020 due to drought conditions. The situation improved in the summer of 2021 after heavy rains. In the course of the special military operation, the Russian army liberated the canal’s hydraulic engineering unit located in the Kherson Region.
However, in the early morning hours of June 6, Ukrainian forces delivered a strike on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP). The shelling destroyed the hydraulic sluice valves at the HPP’s dam, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. The collapse of the hydro plant’s dam has caused serious environmental damage, with farmland along the Dnieper River being washed away, and a heightened risk that water levels in the North Crimean Canal will become unsustainably low.