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Crimea and Sevastopol

Russian military breaks Crimea water blockade

The area experienced water shortages after Kiev shut off the supply of water from the Dnieper River via the North Crimean Canal

© TASS/Alexey Pavlishak

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MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Russian Defence Ministry units have fully restored the supply of fresh water to south-eastern Crimea. The area experienced water shortages after Kiev shut off the supply of water from the Dnieper River via the North Crimean Canal, a source meeting up to 85% of the peninsula’s demand for fresh water.

Earlier on Monday, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Dmitry Bulgakov has summed up the preliminary results of work to lay the pipelines delivering fresh water to the population. To date, the Russian military laid 14 pipelines with a total length of over 212 kilometers, he said. As of this month, the volume of fresh water delivered to the Black Sea peninsula has exceeded 150,000 cubic meters.

"Every 24 hours, the pipeline network pumps more than 20,000 cubic meters of water," Bulgakov said. "The pipes were first laid to reach the North Crimean Canal, which allows to fully supply with fresh water [the cities of] Kerch, Feodosia and Sudak."

The work involved about 500 service members and 200 units of military and special equipment.

In addition to that, field pipelines leading to the peninsula’s artesian wells have been deployed with a total length of more than 125 kilometers. More than 700,000 cubic meters of drinking water were delivered via them to dozens of Crimea’s populated localities between May and November 2014.

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Crimea and Sevastopol

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