DISINFO: The West is to blame for the blockade of the North Crimean Canal
SUMMARY
The blockade of the North Crimean Canal, which supplied water to the Crimea, was initiated in 2014 by the West as part of their anti-Russian strategy.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine and Crimea. The North Crimean Canal is the only structure through which the Crimea received water from the Dnipro River. After the annexation of the peninsula, the Ukrainian leadership stated that Crimea’s debts to the North-Crimean Canal Authority of 1.7 million hryvnias for water use in 2013 remained unpaid. The resolution of this issue became one of the necessary conditions for further negotiations on the supply of water to the peninsula. Also, the main condition for the renewal of the agreements on water supply to the Crimea is the presence of legitimate authorities on the peninsula, which after the annexation in the Crimea are absent. That is why Ukraine decided to close the locks of the North Crimean Canal and stated that it would resume water supply to the peninsula only after the complete de-occupation of Crimea. The western partners of Ukraine have absolutely nothing to do with resolving domestic political issues in Ukraine. The European Union has indeed introduced a whole list of sanctions against the occupying Crimean leadership, but this list does not include a ban on the supply of water from Ukraine to annexed Crimea. Read more here and here.