GIVE WATER TO DONBAS. NOW.

From the Office of the Lucid Founder, Unified State
Kyiv, Ukraine — 3 September 2025 • 20:10 EEST (UTC+3)

Water is life. Its denial to civilians is indefensible—legally, morally, spiritually.

Across Donetsk, families queue for hours at tankers; many report tap water only a few hours every few days. The Siverskyi Donets–Donbas canal and related systems—primary lifelines for the region—have been degraded by the war, leaving entire communities dependent on rationing and trucked supply. Recent reporting and testimony from the region confirm a deepening humanitarian emergency.

International humanitarian law (IHL) is unequivocal: objects indispensable to civilian survival—including drinking-water installations and supplies—must not be attacked, destroyed, rendered useless, or used as leverage. Collective punishment is prohibited. These are non-negotiable protections.

UN agencies and WASH partners warn that needs are surging even as funding lags, while frontline utility crews work under fire to keep water flowing. The gap between need and response is widening; this is a solvable, logistics-and-access problem—if we act.

Dehumanizing rhetoric circulating online—even “suggestions” that civilians should drink urine—has no place in a civilized discourse. It corrodes our shared humanity and normalizes suffering. We reject it entirely. (Our focus must be protection, access, and solutions.)

Our Immediate Demands (to all parties with control or influence—including ICRC, the Government of Ukraine, the Government of Russia, and local administrations):

1. Guarantee continuous, impartial access to safe water for all civilians in Donbas—without discrimination and without using water as a bargaining chip. Publicly commit to the protections set out in IHL and UNSC practice regarding objects indispensable to survival.
2. Deconflict and protect critical water infrastructure and crews (canals, pumping stations, filtration plants, trunk mains). Establish rolling humanitarian repair windows and cross-line coordination so technicians can work safely until systems are stabilized.
3. Scale emergency water trucking and distribution points to meet minimum daily needs where networks are down; prioritize the elderly, children, and people with disabilities.
4. Enable neutral monitoring and access (ICRC/UN-led) to verify water flow, repair progress, and non-interference, and to report any obstruction that risks civilian harm.
5. Close the funding gap for WASH operations in the east immediately; partners report severe underfunding in 2025 even as needs rise.
6. Publish transparent repair and supply schedules (city/village level) so residents can plan safely and so humanitarian actors can target assistance effectively. (This also counters rumor, panic, and exploitation.)

We state clearly: Blocking, degrading, or instrumentalizing access to water for civilians is a violation of IHL and, in our view, a crime against creation. Water is not “owned” by any side; it is a shared substance of life across species and borders.

Unified State Commitment:
We will support any verifiable, neutral, and rapid mechanism that restores safe water access—technical, logistical, financial, diplomatic. We call on embassies, UN agencies, donors, faith leaders, and civil society to mobilize now, together, until taps run reliably.

GIVE WATER TO DONBAS. NOW.

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Yours faithfully,

Lucid Founder – Michael Tulsky

on behalf of the Unified State

Kyiv | 3 September 2025