Photo from UNIAN
The human rights activist added that the water would not "re-appear on the peninsula just like that."
The illegally annexed Crimean peninsula is facing a grave environmental disaster as salt marshes are actively forming and local population could experience acute freshwater shortage this year, that's according to Tamila Tashev, a coordinator of Crime SOS civic initiative.
She noted that the reason for such developments is the five-year period of ruthless exploitation of Crimea by Russian invaders, Obozrevatel reports.
"The environmental consequences are very serious in Crimea, especially in the north of the peninsula. We have seen these consequences in Armiansk with the Crimean Titan factory. There they have reservoirs with chemicals that were supposed to remain underwater, but due to lack of water, they evaporate much faster. It's not the first year we've been seeing such problems, "she said.
The human rights activist said water would not "re-appear on the peninsula just like that," adding that for the last five years, Crimea residents were simply lucky to enjoy frequent rains.
"If you talk to farmers in the north of Crimea, they explain that they cannot do their business as they did before. In fact, this is the devastation of the lands. Also, they've been drilling deep wells to pump water. This will entail fatal consequences," she said.
UNIAN memo. Ukraine blocked fresh water supply to Crimea once the peninsula was illegally seized by Russia.
Ukraine used to cover up to 85% of Crimea's demand in fresh water through the North-Crimean Canal that delivered water from the Dnipro River.