Civilians in eastern Ukraine at risk this winter due to widespread damage to water infrastructure, OSCE report concludes

KYIV, 18 September, 2015 – The conduct of hostilities and violations of the Minsk ceasefire agreements has resulted in repeated damage to the water pipe system in eastern Ukraine, putting tens of thousands of civilians living on both sides of the contact line without access to piped water.

The current shortages in water in the conflict‐affected areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Regions could leave civilians bitterly cold throughout the coming winter as central heating systems break down and have lasting consequences on food production, says a report released today by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM).

The thematic report, Access to Water in Conflict‐affected Areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Regions, says that the situation has been exacerbated by the fact that the existing water infrastructure was already in need of repairs even before the fighting commenced in spring 2014. Hostilities prevented further repair works from taking place. Moreover the functionality of essential water pumps has decreased due to the shelling of the electrical systems which powered them.

“Access to water is a precondition for the enjoyment of the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to the highest attainable standard of health and is an internationally recognised human right,” says the SMM’s Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug. “Lack of access to sufficient, safe, acceptable and affordable water is putting the most vulnerable groups including children, persons with disabilities, chronically-ill and elderly persons residing within least accessible conflict-affected areas at risk.”

In the past few months, the SMM has played a key role in facilitating local ceasefire to enable access for repair crews to attend to damaged water works and other crucial infrastructure. Cities and villages which have benefitted from these interventions include Trokhizbenka, Horlivka, Maiorsk, Raivka, Komsomolske, Krasnoarmiisk and Mariupol. Nonetheless, repair works are not sustainable as long as the exchange of hostilities continues to damage water and power supply infrastructures.

Monitors have also found that the presence of Ukrainian Armed Forces and armed groups, land mines or unexploded ordnances - coupled with the poor condition of road networks - has hampered residents from accessing wells or from receiving water supply by trucks. In many cases workers have been unable to conduct repair works due to on-going shelling or from receiving spare parts needed for the repair of the water installations due to restrictions on the transport of goods across the contact line.

In the report, the SMM says orders limiting the freedom of movement and/or the supply of goods or water across the contact line is interfering with the supply of water from government‐controlled settlements to non‐government controlled settlements.

The SMM calls upon the Ukrainian authorities and those in effective control of Luhansk and Donetsk, to immediately cease attacks against civilians - including civilian objects indispensable to the water supply system - and to respect the Minsk Agreements including an immediate and full ceasefire and the pull‐out of all heavy weapons.

The report is based on data collected by SMM monitors from May to August 2015 in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, including in non-government controlled areas.