Photo from UNIAN
To solve this problem, Russian President Vladimir Putin may take the most desperate steps, up to the creation of another so-called "people's republic" in Ukraine.
Ukraine's military expert Yuriy Karin says water of the Dnipro River is vital for the Russian-occupied Crimea, since its reserves on the peninsula may be exhausted in a few years.
"Water reserves on the annexed Crimean peninsula can be completely exhausted already in five to seven years. That is, they [residents] really need water from the Dnipro," he told the Ukrainian Fakty daily newspaper on July 1.
To solve this problem, Russian President Vladimir Putin may take the most desperate steps, up to the creation of another so-called "people's republic" in Ukraine, he said.
At the same time, the situation with the water supply in the peninsula is ambiguous, the expert added. On the one hand, there is information that the northern Crimea faces a real ecological disaster due to water shortage, which leads to a change in the demographic structure of the region and the extinction of settlements. On the other hand, there are statements of a different nature. According to Volodymyr Bazhenov, CEO of Voda Kryma company, the peninsula will not be able to process the Dnipro water.
In any case, if the water supplies to Crimea are not restored, the Russian Federation might act in different ways.
"One of them may be destabilization of south-eastern Ukraine in order to create, if not a Donbas-Crimea land corridor, then at least some kind of the 'Kherson Republic' to resume water supplies to Crimea," Karin added.
Noteworthy, the water coming from the Dnipro River in mainland Ukraine through the North Crimean Canal provided up to 85% of the peninsula needs. After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in the spring of 2014, the supply of water through the canal was stopped by the decision of the Ukrainian authorities.