"The majority of the region's estimated population of 3.5 million people are believed to be suffering from a worsening man-made drought after years of shelling destroyed the arid region's sophisticated water supply system, according to residents, Moscow-backed separatist authorities and Ukrainian officials. Meanwhile, uncontrolled mining is poisoning the remaining water sources with chemicals, methane, carcinogens and radioactive isotopes. Experts have warned that the Donbas has turned into a ticking environmental bomb."
"We're slowly dying of thirst, Anna, a 29-year-old mother of two in the city of Donetsk told Al Jazeera. She withheld her last name because contacts with foreign media could land her in a detention centre, where people have reported torture and killings. Instead of taking a bath or a shower, the kids wipe themselves with a wet cloth, Anna said. Donetsk is now [the] Sahara."
"Like any ex-Soviet megalopolis, Donetsk and its metropolitan area consist of apartment buildings with centralised water and heat supplies. Since 2014, a wider area in the Donetsk region has been known as the separatist People's Republic of Donetsk, or DPR, which Russia annexed in 2022 but retains symbols of independence such as a cabinet and a parliament that are, however, fully controlled by Moscow."
Residents in Donbas lack sufficient water for basic needs as years of shelling destroyed centralized supply infrastructure. An estimated 3.5 million people in occupied and contested areas suffer a man-made drought, while uncontrolled mining contaminates remaining sources with chemicals, methane, carcinogens and radioactive isotopes. Communities resort to improvised water-collection methods and reduce hygiene, raising infection risks. Donetsk's centralized systems collapsed, and governance under the DPR and Russian control complicates restoration of services. Population decline since 2014 and Russia's 2022 annexation intensify humanitarian and environmental threats, creating a regional public-health and ecological crisis.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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