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The WASH Cluster was informed of a very serious incident, which happened on Friday 10th September, in the village of Pisky, in Yasynuvatskyi rajon, Donetsk Oblast. In that village a Czech NGO, People in Need (PIN), supplies water to a small but vulnerable population of around 11 people. On Friday the water truck was driving through to the village, from the Pervomaiske direction, in convoy with a car from CIMIC in Avdiivka, who were at a distance of 50-70 m. The driver of the water truck, and his assistant, both heard an explosion and saw something land not far from the CIMIC vehicle, at which point both the CIMIC car and the water truck immediately turned back and left the area.
Although they are not experts, the first impressions of those present was that it was a round fired from an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). And fortunately, this time, there were no casualties. However, this is very serious incident, which directly put at risk humanitarian assistance in the field. The water delivery was organized according to a regular schedule, and therefore military in the area should have known and expected the delivery.
In the short term the NGO (People in Need – PIN) are considering different options including providing bottled water instead of using the water truck. However, a decision on how to process is unlikely before Wednesday. All upcoming deliveries are now considered to be at risk, and the future delivery modality, indeed the feasibility to continue providing water to Pisky village is now being weighed up against all risks. Pisky village has not received water since the incident on Friday.
The WASH Cluster will inform stakeholders and the international community about any new developments on this issue.