Not a drop to drink – Meduza

 

Report on the Water Crisis in Russian-Occupied Ukrainian Territories and its Conflict with Sustainable Development Goals

This report details the escalating water crisis in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine, analyzing its causes, impacts, and the profound failure to meet key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The situation, originating from the 2014 conflict and severely exacerbated by the 2022 full-scale invasion, has culminated in a humanitarian and ecological catastrophe.

1. Violation of SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

The core of the crisis is a direct contravention of SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. The water supply in Donetsk and surrounding areas fails to meet every target of this goal.

• Lack of Safe and Affordable Drinking Water: Water is severely rationed, with distribution schedules recently extended from every two days to every three days, and in some areas, once every four days. When available, the water is often visibly contaminated (“filthy, orange-stained fluid”), making it unsafe for consumption and domestic use.
• Inadequate Sanitation and Hygiene: The scarcity has led to extreme conservation measures, including reports of residents using plastic bags in toilets to avoid flushing, highlighting a severe breakdown in sanitation services.
• Failure of Integrated Water Resources Management: The primary water source, the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas Canal, remains inaccessible due to ongoing conflict. The new Don-Donbas Pipeline, constructed under a now-jailed official, is acknowledged as a stopgap measure, meeting at most 45% of the region’s needs. This demonstrates a complete failure in transboundary cooperation and sustainable water management.

2. Compounding Failures in Health, Equality, and Sustainable Communities

The water crisis triggers a cascade of failures across multiple SDGs, impacting public health, social equity, and the viability of urban centers.

2.1. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

The lack of clean water poses significant health risks, including the potential for waterborne diseases. The physical burden of collecting and carrying heavy water containers disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, directly undermining their well-being.

2.2. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

The crisis exacerbates existing inequalities.

• Residents on the upper floors of apartment buildings often receive no water due to low pressure.
• The elderly, people with disabilities, and mothers with young children face immense challenges in securing their water supply.
• A significant price disparity exists, with bottled water in Donetsk costing double the price of that in nearby cities, placing a heavy financial burden on households and violating the principle of affordable access.

2.3. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Donetsk, once a model city, now exemplifies an unsustainable community. The inability to provide the most basic service of water renders the city unsafe and non-resilient. Paradoxically, while residents suffer, resources are diverted to non-essential projects like city fountains and new residential complexes, demonstrating a severe disconnect in urban planning.

3. Economic and Institutional Collapse

The crisis extends to the region’s economic stability and institutional integrity, undermining progress towards SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

3.1. Economic Impact (SDG 8)

The industrial sector is severely affected.

• The Zuevskaya thermal power plant faces critical water shortages in its cooling pond, threatening a shutdown that would impact regional power supply and employment.
• A poultry farm in Rozovka reported mass deaths of birds after its water supply was drastically cut, showcasing the direct impact on agricultural enterprises and food security.

3.2. Institutional Failure and Public Outcry (SDG 16)

Public trust in governing institutions has eroded. Residents and pro-invasion commentators alike voice outrage over perceived corruption, negligence, and incompetence among local officials. An open letter to the Russian president outlines the public’s demands for accountability and effective governance.

1. Initiate personal presidential oversight of the crisis.
2. Launch an investigation into local corruption and negligence.
3. Declare a state of emergency.
4. Implement an immediate and comprehensive overhaul of the water infrastructure.
5. Construct a second water pipeline to the region.
6. Reduce water prices to reflect the poor service quality.
7. Establish new regulations to ensure transparency and fairness in water distribution.

4. Conclusion: A Conflict-Driven Developmental Setback

The water crisis in the Donetsk region is a direct consequence of armed conflict, which has dismantled essential infrastructure and severed access to the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas Canal. The occupying authorities acknowledge that a long-term solution is contingent on further military advances to capture the city of Sloviansk. This position links the provision of a basic human right to military objectives, fundamentally obstructing any progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and perpetuating a cycle of human suffering and environmental degradation.

Identified Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

• The article’s central theme is the severe water crisis in the Donetsk region, directly addressing the core of SDG 6. It details the lack of access to clean water, inadequate sanitation, and the failure of water infrastructure. The text describes a “humanitarian and ecological catastrophe” due to water shortages, rationing, and poor quality.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

• The article connects to SDG 3 by highlighting the health risks associated with the water crisis. The water supplied is described as a “filthy, orange-stained fluid,” which poses a direct threat of waterborne diseases. Furthermore, the mention of residents resorting to lining “toilet bowls with kulechki (small bags) to catch excrement” points to unsanitary conditions that can lead to public health issues.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• The water shortage’s impact on the industrial sector links the article to SDG 8. The text states that the Zuevskaya thermal plant is threatened with a shutdown due to low water levels, which would affect numerous enterprises. It also gives a specific example of economic loss where “large numbers of birds died at a poultry farm after its water supply was cut by two-thirds.”

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

• The article highlights how the crisis disproportionately affects different groups, which is a key concern of SDG 10. It notes that water “frequently fails to reach the upper floors of buildings,” disadvantaging those residents. It also explicitly mentions the struggle of “mothers with small children, people with disabilities, and the elderly” who “must manage heavy buckets up flights of stairs,” illustrating the unequal burden placed on vulnerable populations.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• The crisis is presented as a failure to provide basic services, making communities unsustainable, a core issue of SDG 11. The article describes Donetsk, “once a city of roses, a model city,” as having its living standards degrade to a “tragedy.” The continued construction of “new residential complexes” and operation of “city fountains” amidst severe rationing points to unsustainable urban management.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

• SDG 16 is relevant as the article attributes the crisis to conflict (“Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the war Moscow unleashed in Donbas”) and institutional failure. It details corruption, citing the case of “former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, who was later jailed for corruption” in relation to the new water pipeline. Residents’ demands for an “investigation into local graft and negligence” and “new regulations to ensure transparency and fairness” underscore a breakdown in accountable and effective institutions.

Specific SDG Targets

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

1. Target 6.1: By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all. The article shows this target is not being met. Access is not universal, with rationing schedules of “every three days.” It is not equitable, as water “fails to reach the upper floors.” It is not safe, described as a “filthy, orange-stained fluid.” It is not affordable, with residents facing “high water bills” and bottled water costing “5 rubles per liter,” double the price in nearby cities.
2. Target 6.2: By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all. The description of people using “small bags to catch excrement” to conserve water for flushing is a clear indicator that access to adequate sanitation is compromised.
3. Target 6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution. The water quality is explicitly poor, described as “full of rust” and an “orange-stained fluid,” indicating a failure to meet this target.
4. Target 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors. The article points to inefficiency and stress. The industrial sector is suffering from cuts, while simultaneously the city operates “fountains, and even… public water shows,” indicating a lack of efficient water management across sectors.
5. Target 6.5: By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate. The crisis originates from the disruption of key water sources like the “Siverskyi Donets-Donbas Canal” due to conflict, demonstrating a complete breakdown of transboundary water management.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

1. Target 3.9: By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination. The supply of “filthy, orange-stained fluid” directly exposes the population to contamination and the risk of waterborne illnesses, working against this target.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

1. Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability… or other status. The article shows the exclusion of vulnerable groups, stating that “mothers with small children, people with disabilities, and the elderly” face particular hardship, and those living on upper floors are denied the basic service of water.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

1. Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services. The severe and prolonged water shortage represents a failure to provide a fundamental basic service, as detailed throughout the article.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

1. Target 16.5: Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms. The article provides a specific example of corruption related to the crisis: the case against Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov for “allegedly accepting 152 million rubles ($1.9 million)” in bribes from a contractor on the Don-Donbas pipeline project.
2. Target 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels. The public’s open letter demanding “Putin’s personal oversight,” an “investigation into local graft and negligence,” and “new regulations to ensure transparency and fairness” indicates that existing institutions are perceived as ineffective, unaccountable, and non-transparent.

Implied and Mentioned Indicators

• Frequency of water supply: An indicator of access, stated as being reduced from “every two days” to “every three days” in Donetsk and “once every four days” in Yenakiieve.
• Duration of water supply: Water is available for “only four hours in the evening on distribution days,” an indicator of service level.
• Water quality: A qualitative indicator described as “filthy, orange-stained fluid” and “full of rust.”
• Water affordability: An economic indicator shown by the price of drinking water at “5 rubles per liter,” which is double the price in nearby cities, and complaints about “high water bills.”
• Infrastructure capacity vs. need: A quantitative indicator of water stress, with the new Don-Donbas pipeline meeting “at most 45 percent of the region’s need for fresh water.”
• Impact on economic sectors: An indicator of water scarcity’s effect on industry, where a poultry farm’s water supply was “cut by two-thirds,” leading to the death of livestock.
• Prevalence of corruption: A specific monetary value is mentioned in a bribery case related to the water infrastructure project: “152 million rubles ($1.9 million).”
• Access to sanitation facilities: A qualitative indicator of hygiene, with people “lining their toilet bowls with kulechki (small bags) to catch excrement.”
• Equity of access: An indicator of inequality, as water “fails to reach the upper floors of buildings.”

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis

SDGs	Targets	Indicators Identified in the Article
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation	6.1: Achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water. 6.2: Achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation. 6.3: Improve water quality. 6.4: Increase water-use efficiency.	– Water supplied only once every 3-4 days for 4 hours. – Water is a “filthy, orange-stained fluid.” – Bottled water costs 5 rubles/liter (double the regional price). – Residents use bags in toilets to save flushing water. – New pipeline meets only 45% of the region’s needs.
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being	3.9: Reduce illnesses from water pollution and contamination.	– Water is described as “full of rust,” posing a direct health risk from contamination.
SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth	8.1: Sustain per capita economic growth.	– A thermal power plant is at risk of shutdown. – “Large numbers of birds died” at a poultry farm after its water supply was cut by two-thirds.
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities	10.2: Promote social inclusion of all, irrespective of disability, age, etc.	– Water fails to reach upper floors of apartment buildings. – The elderly, people with disabilities, and mothers with children face extra hardship carrying heavy buckets.
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities	11.1: Ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable basic services.	– The city of Donetsk is described as suffering a “tragedy” in living standards. – Basic water service is severely rationed and of poor quality.
SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions	16.5: Substantially reduce corruption and bribery. 16.6: Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions.	– The crisis is rooted in military conflict. – An official was accused of accepting a 152 million ruble bribe for the water pipeline project. – Citizens demand investigations into “local graft and negligence” and call for transparency.

Source: meduza.io