A Russian assault on a hydroelectric plant in southern Ukraine has led to an oil spill and widespread water pollution in neighbouring Moldova, prompting severe disruptions to supplies.
Officials confirmed on Monday that water services were entirely cut off in Balti, Moldova’s second-largest city, affecting its 90,000 residents, alongside three other towns. These outages are expected to persist for at least another 12 hours into Tuesday.
President Maia Sandu, who is campaigning for Moldova to join the European Union by the decade’s end, directly attributed the contamination of the Dniestr River to Russia. The environmental crisis also forced the closure of schools, with students instructed to switch to online learning.
Moldova declared a 15-day environmental alert on Sunday as the extent of the pollution became apparent.
“We declared environmental alert and are acting to protect our people,” Sandu said in a statement on social media, referring to the March 7 attack on the Novodnistrovsk hydro station. “Russia bears full responsibility.”
A map of Novodnistrovsk hydro station:
Moldova’s foreign ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador to the country over the attack on the station.
“The Republic of Moldova strongly condemns this attack, which caused an oil spill in the Nistru River, posing major risks to the environment and the security of the Republic of Moldova’s water supply,” it said in a statement, using the Romanian name for the Dniestr River.
Sandu has repeatedly denounced Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and accused Moscow of trying to unseat her government. Moscow accuses her of fomenting Russophobia.
The EU has provided considerable financial support for Moldova since Sandu’s 2020 election and Marta Kos, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, said the bloc was prepared to help tackle the pollution.
“This is a reminder that Russia’s war does not stop at Ukraine’s borders,” she wrote on X. “We stand in solidarity with the Republic of Moldova.”
Source: independent.co.uk