WASH Incident Report No.203 Date: 30/06/2019

Prepared by: Volodymyr Kalinin, WASH Cluster IMO

SHELLING DAMAGE OF THE SIVERSKYI DONETS DONBASS CHANNEL

Voda Donbasa (VD) informed the WASH Cluster of a new shelling incident during the night of 28th – 29th June 2019, which damaged the Siverskyi Donets- Donbass (SDD) channel, in a location which supplies raw water to filter stations supplying more than 3 million people on both sides of the Line of Contact.

Shrapnel from exploding shells hit one of three parallel 2100 mm diameter (more than 2 metres) pipelines near Besarabka settlement north of Horlivka city, on the Non Government Controlled Area (NGCA) side of the line. During a physical inspection, VD staff identified three new holes and some new cracks in the pipe. Currently the damaged pipeline is in operation, and the two other pipelines were not damaged and remain fully in operation. The approximate size of holes is 50mm by 100 mm (2 holes) and 30mm by 30 mm (1 hole).

On Monday, VD is planning to repair holes. VD has access to that area and there is no need of Window of Silence (WoS).

This is serious incident, as the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas (SDD) channel is the main source of water for almost the whole of Donetsk oblast, taking water from the Sievierskyi Donets river and delivering it to the whole area: around than 850,000 people in Government Controlled Areas, GCA and 2,300,000 in Non- Government Controlled Areas (NGCA). Downstream water goes to all major cities (Donetsk, Horlivka, Volnovakha, Dokuchaievsk, Pokrovsk and Mariupol) and many smaller settlements. The SDD channel is mainly an open water channel, but with some pipeline sections where water is being pumped uphill. Near Horlivka, water passed in the three parallel steel pipelines each 2100 mm in size.

The WASH Cluster is in touch with Voda Donbasa and OSCE and will inform about any additional information or needs.

WASH Incident Report