Ukraine: Russia preparing "man-made catastrophe' at Crimean titan plant

Russia is preparing a "man-made catastrophe" at the Titan chemical plant in annexed Crimea, Kyiv's military intelligence agency, GUR, said on June 12.

Russian forces are mining the workshops of the plant, located in Armyansk in the northern part of the Black Sea peninsula that Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed from Ukraine in 2014, according to the GUR. Ukraine has vowed to recapture Crimea in a counteroffensive, Newsweek reports.

"In the temporarily occupied Armyansk in the north of the Crimean peninsula, the Russians are preparing for the evacuation of both representatives of the occupation administration and the local population," it said.

The GUR said that as a result of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka last week, and the subsequent lack of water in the North Crimean Canal, manufacturing processes at the Crimean Titan plant in Armyansk "have been disrupted to a critical level."

Young masked supporters attend a rally in support of keeping Crimea a part of Ukraine on March 11, 2014, in Simferopol, Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the damage to the critical Soviet-era dam in southern Ukraine on the Dnieper River. It was breached in the early hours of June 6, unleashing water on swaths of territory as a counteroffensive from Kyiv kicked off.

The North Crimean Canal, which has traditionally delivered 85 per cent of the water to Crimea, takes water from the now-destroyed Nova Kakhovka reservoir. Most of the water from the North Crimean Canal is used for farming or industry, but about a fifth is used for drinking water, meeting most of the peninsula's needs.

"The Russians consider it impossible to resume operations at a minimally acceptable level. There are reports circulating within the temporarily occupied territory of Armyansk about the potential shutdown of the Crimean Titan facility," the GUR said.

"Simultaneously, over the past few days, the engineering units of the occupying army have been placing mines within the workshops of the operational enterprise while also planting explosives in both the factory and the surrounding area."

The intelligence agency added: "The terrorist attack on the Crimean Titan enterprise, for which the Russian invaders are preparing, will mean an artificial man-made catastrophe, terrible in its consequences."

The plant's refrigerating equipment uses some 200 tons of ammonia, it said. Inhaling the substance can cause a burning sensation in the eyes, nose, and throat, and coughing. The GUR said that if there is an explosion at the plant, an ammonia cloud could cover the surrounding areas in half an hour.

Armyansk, Crimea's Krasnoperekopsk district, and the southern districts of Ukraine's Kherson region will be under threat, the GUR added.

In August 2018, more than 4,000 people were evacuated from a polluted area in Armyansk after chemical substances were released from the plant, causing metals to rust, fields to change colour, and residents to suffer symptoms including headaches, nausea, coughs, chemical burns, and eye and throat irritations.

The Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said at the time that the concentration of sulfurous anhydride in the air had exceeded acceptable levels. At the time of the leak, the plant produced titanium dioxide pigment, sulfuric acid, iron vitriol, liquid sodium glass, aluminium sulfate and mineral fertilizers, Vocal Europe reported.