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

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 on the subject released by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine on September 18. The report says 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 electrical systems which powered them," reads the document. "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 recognized human right,” said 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," he noted. In the report, the mission 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 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.