The Air Smells Of Sulfur: Acid Emissions Hit Occupied Crimea

And because of the drought, the rivers dried up.

There is a new disaster in occupied Crimea. Due to the drought, the peninsula's rivers have become shallow, and settlements such as Krasnoperekopsk and Armyansk are suffering from acid emissions from the Crimean Titan plant. There is not enough water to cool the plant's acid reservoir, so harmful emissions rise into the air. Residents complain of cloudy windows and a terrible smell of air at night, writes OBOZ.UA.

Mirrors are getting cloudy and stink of sulfur

Because of the drought in occupied Crimea, the environmental disaster of 2018 is being repeated. Back then, residents of towns like Armyansk and Krasnoperekopsk complained about acid emissions from the Crimean Titan plant owned by oligarch Dmitry Firtash.

The dried-up lake where waste from the plant was dumped has run out of water. And the resulting acid dust was blown by the wind through the settlements. Overnight all metal objects were covered with rust, leaves fell from trees, crops were destroyed.

Now the situation is repeated. Residents of Armyansk and Krasnoperekopsk write in social networks that leaves have fallen from the trees in the streets. And at night they can't breathe because of the terrible stench.

"It stinks so much that my eyes water! Especially at night, from about three o'clock, when there are active emissions at the plant. It is impossible to open a window in the apartment, my nose stings from the odors, it is impossible to sleep. Poor people who suffer from allergies," resents Viktor Zabrodsky.

Some residents note that in their houses the glass in the windows and mirrors have turned cloudy - they call it the result of oxidation.

"It was like this seven years ago. If the spoons and forks aren't rusty yet, all the mirrors and windows have turned cloudy. Acid settles on them. The trees under the window dropped their leaves, they are covered with something gray and began to curl," - shares Oksana Noskova.

Automobile drivers complain that in the morning their cars are covered with sticky scum, but especially the glass and mirrors suffer.

"It smells of sulfur dioxide, it reminds the smell of a burnt match or newspaper. Sometimes there is a sweet smell, it is sulfuric acid," writes in social network Elena Varavenko.

Local activist, supporter of the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, pensioner Viktor Mokhov, who twelve years ago worked at the plant "Titan", demands that they slow down production. In this case, there will be less acidic effluent. In his opinion, it is better to suspend production altogether.

No water and rivers dry up

This year, drought has started again in occupied Crimea. Environmentalists say that its peak will be in 2027. That is, the situation will only worsen.

Because of the lack of precipitation, high air temperature on the peninsula are already drying up rivers, which gave residents the opportunity to water vegetable gardens and fields.

Before the occupation of the peninsula, the Dnieper water came here through the North Crimean channel, but after the Russian military blew up the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant and destroyed the reservoir, this stopped.

The peninsula lacks its own sources of water. Because there are now a huge number of Russian military bases stationed here, which require large amounts of fresh water. They are constantly drilling wells and extracting underground water. This also leads to the depletion of underground sources and salinization.

In addition, the occupants are trying to replace the local population with their own citizens. For this purpose, about one million Russians have already moved to the peninsula. Also a large number of Russian military personnel and their families live here. There is not enough water on the peninsula for this number of residents.

In July, the longest Crimean river Salgir partially dried up. Moynak Lake in Yevpatoria is also disappearing. It is one of the favorite places for recreation and recovery of tourists. Until 2014, thousands of resort residents used the therapeutic muds of this reservoir to treat musculoskeletal system, skin, consequences of injuries and wounds.

The Crimean reservoirs are also drying up, now the volume of water in them is half of what it was ten years ago. Water problems are observed even on the South Coast - Yalta, Alushta. For example, in some areas of Alushta, water is delivered by water trucks to the yards. There is also no water in Bakhchisaray.

Russian authorities do not support any major projects to fill Crimea with water. Unless they promise money for the construction of a new reservoir in 2028. They probably hope that they will somehow manage to solve this problem militarily.

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