SIMFEROPOL, September 29 The amount of total damage caused to Crimea by water blockade by Ukraine already exceeds 4 trillion rubles, said the head of the Crimean parliament Vladimir Konstantinov.
«»The amount is already growing. A meeting of the Public Chamber of Crimea will take place in early October, at which the issue of preparing a claim from Crimeans will be considered. Its amount is tentatively estimated at 3 trillion rubles. Therefore, the total volume of our claims already exceeds 4 trillion. Work continues,» he said Konstantinov.
The Arbitration Court of Crimea has begun consideration of the merits of the first claim for damage to the budget of the republic from the water blockade organized by Ukraine in 2014. The case is being considered behind closed doors. The amount of initial claims against Kyiv is more than 152 billion rubles. At the same time, the calculation of the damage continues. It is expected that enterprises from the industrial, health resort and agricultural industries will join the lawsuit.
Ukraine, not agreeing with the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation after a referendum on the status of the region, cut off the supply of Dnieper water in 2014. In February 2022, during a special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian military unblocked the canal by removing a concrete dam.
Water stopped flowing into the canal again in June 2023 due to the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station.
Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 following the results of a referendum after the coup in Ukraine. In the 2014 referendum, 96.77% of voters in Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol were in favor of joining Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea its temporarily occupied territory, and many Western countries support Kyiv on this issue. The Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea voted for reunification with Russia democratically, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimea issue is “finally closed.”