“Crimea river”: Russia & Ukraine’s water conflict

 "Crimea has been running out of drinking water, and Moscow isn't happy about it.

A fluid backstory: Crimea is a sea-girdled peninsula of arid steppes and salty marshes. For decades, a Soviet-era canal brought Crimea 85 percent of its freshwater from rivers on the Ukrainian mainland.

But that began to change in 2014: after a popular uprising in Ukraine ousted the country's Kremlin-friendly president, Russia annexed Crimea, which is the only region of Ukraine where ethnic Russians predominate.

Although neither Kyiv, the US, nor the EU recognize Russia's control over Crimea, Ukraine has no way of kicking out Russia's vastly superior forces.

But at the same time, as long as the Kremlin de facto governs the place, Kyiv believes it no longer has any responsibility for the well-being of the people who live there. After all, they are now under a Russian flag, not a Ukrainian one. 

And that's where the water crisis comes in, dam it! After the Russian takeover of Crimea, Ukraine built a dam across that Soviet-era canal to stop the flow of water to the peninsula. 

Crimean authorities have since 2014 been forced on occasion to ration water, and after a particularly harsh drought earlier this year, Moscow leveled the charge of genocide at Kyiv for its decision to block the canal. This week, the Kremlin accused Kyiv of ecocide as well.

All of this has forced Russia to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Crimean water infrastructure, not only for the drinking and irrigation needs of the region's 2.5 million civilian residents, but also for the growing number of Russian naval personnel stationed there." GZERO

Trump vows to end Ukraine conflict in 24 hours

"President Joe Biden is leading the United States “into oblivion,” Donald Trump told the
Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, promising to stop wasting US taxpayer money on “stupid” foreign wars as he rallies support for a potential political comeback in 2024. 

“I was the only president in decades that didn't have a war,” Trump said in his nearly two-hour long speech at the annual conservative gathering at Gaylord National Resort, claiming that if he was in office right now, “Ukraine would have been thriving, there would have been no dead people, no obliterated cities that can never be rebuilt.” 

Last month, Trump promised to immediately call Moscow and Kiev, if re-elected, insisting he knows exactly what to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to stop the conflict. 

“I know what to say,” he reiterated. “Before I arrive in the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine ended… I will get the problem solved and I will get it solved in rapid order and it will take me no longer than one day.” RT

Germany warned of power cuts

"Germany could face an electricity shortage in the next two years as its own energy resources
become increasingly insufficient and demand rises, Welt am Sonntag reported, citing a local McKinsey study." RT

Russia to maintain high oil output

"Russian oil drillers can maintain high production despite numerous rounds of Western
sanctions, JPMorgan projected this week, according to Reuters. 

The Wall Street bank pointed to growing demand for crude oil from China and India which is expected to increase collectively by 1 million barrels per day (mbd) this year." RT

Ukrainians Blow Bridges Out of Bakhmut, Russian Fighters Now in the Streets

"Pressure from Russian forces mounted by Ukrainians hunkered down in Bakhmut, as
residents attempted to flee with help from troops who Western analysts say may be preparing to withdraw from the key eastern stronghold.

A Ukrainian army representative who asked not to be named for operational reasons told The Associated Press that it was now too dangerous for civilians to leave Bakhmut by vehicle and that people had to flee on foot instead." Breitbart