---
title: "Communal crisis in occupied territories: electricity, water, and communications in Berdiansk and Mariupol"
description: "In Berdiansk and Mariupol on the occupied territories, the communal crisis is worsening: disruptions to electricity and water are creating sanitary risks and giving rise to a drinking water market."
date: 2026-08-28T09:16:03.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/communal-crisis-berdiansk-mariupol-occupation
tags: [occupied-territories, mariupol, berdiansk, utility-crisis, russia-ukraine]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Communal crisis in occupied territories: electricity, water, and communications in Berdiansk and Mariupol

![Residents of Berdiansk walking past a mural featuring Putin's portrait and #HAU hashtag against damaged buildings](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/28/kommunalnyy-krizis-berdiansk-mariupol-okkupatsiya/kommunalnyy-krizis-berdiansk-mariupol-okkupatsiya-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- In Berdiansk, frequent power outages and water disruptions have led to warnings about the risk of acute intestinal infections.
- In Mariupol, unstable power supply disrupts communications and access to healthcare, while water supply problems have spawned a drinking water market with price controls.
- Russia is simultaneously intensifying the use of the school system on the occupied territories for propaganda.

On the temporarily occupied territories in southern Ukraine, monitoring data indicates that problems with providing residents basic utility services are worsening. As reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing a Telegram post by Petr Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, power and water supply disruptions in Berdiansk and Mariupol have ceased to be episodic and are now creating sustained sanitary and social risks for the population.

### Communal collapse and sanitary risks in Berdiansk

In Berdiansk, according to the same data, frequent power outages and water supply disruptions have prompted official warnings about the risk of acute intestinal infections spreading. The local Rospotrebnadzor office reportedly urged residents to observe preventive measures. The combination of unstable power supply and water problems effectively places the city in a zone of elevated sanitary risk, where even basic hygiene conditions become inaccessible to part of the population.

### Communications and access to healthcare in Mariupol

In Mariupol, unstable power supply reportedly continues to directly affect the operation of communications. Healthcare facilities note that residents cannot always reach medical institutions by phone, which is why patients are advised to visit registration desks in person. For people with chronic diseases and elderly residents, this significantly complicates access to medical care and increases the burden on in-person appointments.

### The shadow market for drinking water and price controls

Problems with stable water supply in Mariupol, as noted, have led to the formation of a separate market for drinking water. The occupation administration, according to the source, is monitoring prices: bottled water in 5–6 liter containers costs between 80 and 260 rubles, while bulk water is sold for up to 4 rubles per liter. The constant monitoring of drinking water prices, in the assessment of the monitoring authors, indicates that systemic problems with supplying city residents water from centralized networks persist.

### The education system as a tool of propaganda

In parallel with the utility problems, as the authors of the publication remind, Russia is intensifying the use of the education system on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to spread its own propaganda: schools are introducing mandatory subjects whose content is aimed at imposing a distorted version of historical events. Thus, the infrastructure crisis is combined with deliberate ideological pressure on the local population, including children and adolescents.

It is worth separately noting the limits of verification: the figures and assessments provided are based on Petr Andriushchenko's Telegram post, relayed by RBC-Ukraine, and independent on-the-ground verification under occupation conditions is significantly hampered. Nevertheless, the combination of indicators — sanitary warnings, communications failures, the formation of a drinking water market, and price controls — points to a sustained, rather than one-off, nature of the communal crisis in both cities.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Threat of infections and a communal crisis: what is happening in Berdiansk and Mariupol because of the Russians](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/zagroza-infektsiy-ta-komunalna-kriza-shcho-1787907720.html) - Единственный источник; цифры по ценам на воду и санитарные предупреждения приведены по публикации П. Андрющенко в Telegram, независимая проверка затруднена.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: What utility problems are being recorded in Berdiansk?
**A:** In Berdiansk, monitoring data records frequent power outages and water supply disruptions, which prompted the local Rospotrebnadzor office to warn about the risk of acute intestinal infections spreading and to call for observing preventive measures.

### Q: How do power outages affect life in Mariupol?
**A:** In Mariupol, unstable power supply disrupts the operation of communications: residents cannot always reach medical facilities by phone, so patients are advised to visit registration desks in person.

### Q: What is known about the drinking water market in Mariupol?
**A:** Due to water supply problems, a separate drinking water market has formed: bottled water in 5–6 liter containers costs between 80 and 260 rubles, bulk water up to 4 rubles per liter; the occupation administration is monitoring these prices.