Tens of thousands of Moldovans have been left without water after a Russian strike on a Ukrainian hydroelectric plant caused oil to pollute the Dniester River, which flows through both countries. The attack on Ukraine's Novodnistrovsk hydropower plant on March 7 contaminated the river, forcing authorities to cut water supplies to several districts, including Moldova's second-largest city, Balti, home to about 90,000 people.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu directly blamed Russia for the pollution, stating it is 'threatening Moldova’s water supply' in the European Union candidate country. The Ukrainian facility, located about 15 kilometres upstream from Moldova's northern border, supplies water to approximately 80 per cent of Moldova's 2.5 million residents. This incident is part of Moscow's repeated targeting of Ukraine's civilian infrastructure since its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Moldova's environment ministry declared a 15-day environmental state of alert on Sunday, enabling authorities to boost technical interventions and impose temporary water restrictions. 'We are taking this decision to make sure we prevent any risk to the population’s health,' the ministry said, citing the continuous wave of oil pollution and exceedance of contaminant levels in the northern area of the Dniester River.
The water shortage has forced some schools to close and move learning online. Residents like 84-year-old Liuba Istrati, who lives on the fifth floor with her sick husband, have been carrying buckets of water up to their apartment. 'It’s very hard, very hard,' she said. Moldova's military has stepped in to distribute drinking water in Balti from a 10-tonne tanker, and neighbouring Romania has sent teams and equipment, including absorbent materials for dams, to aid cleanup efforts.
Authorities are racing to clean up the pollution and monitor the river. Environment Minister Gheorghe Hajder said Wednesday that for the first time since the crisis began, three critical monitoring points 'reached the admissible limit' of oil pollution. If analyses show the same or improved results in the next 48 hours, authorities will consider reopening a pumping station on the northeastern border with Ukraine that supplies several districts and Balti.
Moldova's General Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday it will open a criminal case to investigate the matter. The foreign ministry summoned Russia's ambassador to Chisinau, Oleg Ozerov, presenting him with a bottle of brownish water from the polluted river.
