Paul Goble
Staunton, Jan. 31 – Many have focused on Putin’s desire to control a land bridge to Crimea not only to solidify the Russian occupation there there but also to ensure that water from such seized areas flow into Crimea and help that occupied area survive ever-increasing water shortages.
But Moscow is now focusing on another water issue, the supply of water to its occupied territories in the Donbass, with an approach that speaks to what its intentions not only there but in Ukraine more generally may be. Its new approach is to send water to its occupied territories from Russia without having to cross any Ukrainian-controlled territory.
In an article for Novaya gazeta, journalist Elena Romanova notes that Russian media have only begun talking about the construction of such a water route only in the last few weeks but evidence on the ground suggests that the decision to do this was taken after Russian defeats last fall (novayagazeta.eu/articles/2023/01/31/armiia-roet-zemliu).
If she is right – and the enormous details she provides in her article strongly argue for that – at least some in Moscow are now thinking about what will be needed if Russia is not able to advance further into Ukraine but will have to be satisfied with only the Donbass. As such, construction of such a water system
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