Crimean Authorities Urge UN To Convene Special Meeting On Freshwater Supply To Peninsula

Faizan Hashmi Published June 01, 2020 | 03:52 PM

Ivan Abazher, a member of the Russian Civic Chamber's commission for security from Crimea, on Monday proposed holding a special meeting at the United Nations on the issue of freshwater supply to Crimea, which was cut by Ukraine six years ago

SIMFEROPOL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2020) Ivan Abazher, a member of the Russian Civic Chamber's commission for security from Crimea, on Monday proposed holding a special meeting at the United Nations on the issue of freshwater supply to Crimea, which was cut by Ukraine six years ago.

Earlier in the day, Natalia Poklonskaya, a Russian lawmaker representing Crimea, sent a letter to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urging its chief, Michelle Bachelet, to condemn Kiev's unlawful actions of depriving Crimeans of freshwater, as well as to take corresponding measures to resume the supply of Dnieper water via the North Crimean Canal.

"The water blockade in Crimea is a humanitarian issue. The Kiev authorities have basically attempted to physically exterminate the residents of the peninsula. I urge the UN to convene a special meeting on this issue and to influence Ukraine to resume the water supply via the North Crimean Canal.

Crimean public officials are ready to take part in this meeting and substantiate the essence of the Ukrainian authorities' criminal policy against the Crimeans," Abazher said.

The official added that cutting the water supply to Crimea was a barbaric decision in a civilized modern world.

"How would Europeans react if one of the EU countries blocked the Danube riverbed, depriving the other [nations] of the water resources? The Dnieper River originates in Russia, and now Ukraine, through which the river flows, arbitrarily cuts the water supply to Crimea," Abazher noted.

Kiev cut its water supply to Crimea after a 2014 referendum in which nearly 97 percent of voters supported the peninsula's reunification with Russia. Previously, Crimea relied on Ukraine for 85 percent of its freshwater needs.