Putin Worried about Falling Water Levels and Siltification of Volga River and Caspian Sea

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 27 – Because siltification of the Volga River and the Caspian Sea threaten both Moscow’s ability to use these waterways for developing its north-south trade corridor and using its Caspian Flotilla against Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has expressed concern about this problem and has asked regional officials to contact him directly about what needs to be done.

            The Kremlin leader made those remarks at a meeting with regional officials following his visit to Baku where he said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had pointed out that falling water levels and increasing siltification were increasingly problems for all the Caspian littoral states (ura.news/articles/1036289690).

            The Volga and the Caspian have become increasingly important in recent years. Given problems in the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia, Moscow has increasingly looked to the Caspian to be a major part of its north-south route to Iran and the Indian Ocean (jamestown.org/program/russia-faces-serious-problems-in-developing-north-south-trade-corridor-via-caspian-sea/).

            And the Kremlin has been using its Caspian Flotilla against Ukraine, something that any decline in the water levels either of the Volga or the Caspian will make more difficult and could even block by preventing Russian ships from transiting to the Sea of Azov (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/03/water-level-of-caspian-sea-falling-at.html).

            While some Russian experts have played down these problems (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/03/water-level-of-caspian-sea-falling-at.html), others say the threat is real and that Moscow must do more in response or find itself unable to use these waterways in the manner it has planned (fedpress.ru/news/05/society/3335150).

            Putin’s decision to enter this debate suggests that he at least is persuaded that the problems of falling water levels and siltification are very real and threaten his trade and military goals to the point that he needs to do more and wants to use recommendations from the region to push for that even at a time of budgetary stringency brought on by his war in Ukraine.