OREANDA-NEWS. Water supply to the Crimea, which is experiencing a shortage due to the drought, will be provided without the participation of Ukraine, said the head of the republic Sergey Aksenov. Commenting on reports about Kiev's plans to strengthen the dam blocking the Dnieper, the head of the republic called these steps of the neighboring country an act of state terrorism.

«The water blockade is an act of state terrorism directed against the entire population of the peninsula. And all those who are guilty of organizing and executing this terrorist act should be punished as they deserve», Aksenov wrote on social networks.

At the same time, the head of the Crimea suggested, that the idea of strengthening the dam is an additional way to «cut the skinny budget of your country». Earlier, Anton Korinevich, who holds the post of the permanent representative of the President of Ukraine in the Crimea, announced plans to complete the dam on the North Crimean Canal, which will exclude the possibility of supplying water to the peninsula.

Before the annexation of Crimea to Russia, about 85% of the needs of local residents in fresh water were provided by the North Crimean Canal, which runs from the Dnieper. After the 2014 referendum, Ukraine blocked it. Low water was observed in the Crimea in 2019 and 2020 and, according to forecasts, may last in 2021. Several major cities and dozens of villages have been switched to hourly water supply schedules.