British Defence Intelligence Update Ukraine 11 June 2023

·      The collapse of the Kakhovka Dam on 06 June 2023 has almost certainly severely disrupted the occupied Crimean Peninsula’s primary source of fresh water, the North Crimean Canal (NCC).

·      The NCC draws water from the Kakhovka Reservoir, from an inlet higher than the bed of the reservoir. The water level in the reservoir had likely dropped below the level of the inlet by 09 June 2023 and water will soon stop flowing to Crimea.

·      This will reduce the availability of fresh water in southern Kherson Oblast and northern Crimea. However, the Russian authorities will likely meet the immediate water requirements of the population using reservoirs, water rationing, drilling new wells, and delivering bottled water from Russia. Concurrently, communities on both the Russian and Ukrainian-controlled sides of the flooded Dnipro are facing a sanitation crisis with limited access to safe water, and an increased risk of water-borne diseases.