Natalia Solodko’s garden has seen better days. Only a few measly onions and strawberry bushes still grow there. “I tried really hard, pulled weeds, but there was no water,” says the pensioner. To prove it, she takes a few clods of earth in her hand, which crumble into dust with the slightest pressure between her fingers.

“Since the Kakhovka dam was blown up a year ago, not a drop of water has come out of the tap in Hrushivka,” complains Solodko. “The groundwater level has fallen sharply, even the wells that some people have in their gardens have completely dried up.” Once a week her son buys water in town and brings the canisters over in his car. But it’s not enough for watering.

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