Agriculture and industrial manufacturing of the peninsula suffer from dehydration, and the steppe might turn into a lifeless desert. The Kremlin is not able to recognize its own incapability. Moscow is preparing for Ukraine's future ultimatum: either Kyiv unblocks the North Crimean Canal, or the Kremlin will use force, Krym.Realii report is cited by Censor.NET Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, held a meeting in occupied Crimea. The official noted the catastrophic condition of the peninsula's water supply and accused "unfriendly" Ukraine of trying to destabilize the situation in the region. The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported of training of Marine Corps recruits deployed in Crimea. How are the two messages related? Directly.At the meeting in occupied Simferopol, Patrushev covered several issues: lack of water, activities of "foreign agents" on the peninsula, "threats" from Ukraine, and cooperation of the Russian military-industrial complex with Crimean enterprises. The top-ranking official dwelled into the details of the water supply issue. The data voiced at the meeting might be called catastrophic. The Secretary of the Security Council of Russia said that since the beginning of the occupation the area of ​​irrigated land has decreased by 92%, the industry has suffered.Prior to the occupation, Ukraine covered 85% of the peninsula's needs for water through the North Crimean Canal. The area of ​​irrigated land was about 437,000 hectares then. At the end of last year, the republican agency reported that now they water only 13,000 hectares.Patrushev's statements are not just the words of an ordinary official. It's a person from the circle of cronies of President Vladimir Putin. Together with the head of the FSB, the Russian defense minister and the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, he reports to the head of state on the situation in the country and the world. The Secretary of the Security Council directly participates in the development of key political decisions.If Patrushev has grown concerned with the supply of water, then the issue had been discussed at the highest level in the Kremlin. And this is of fundamental importance. Two major conclusions can be drawn from Patrushev's words. First, the Russian authorities failed to fulfill the task of providing Crimea with water. After Kyiv blocked the channel, the republican "authorities" and Moscow's curators made a good face in a bad game: they say Russia will not leave Crimeans in trouble and will find a way out. Official optimism has dried up quickly. At the end of the first year of the illegal annexation, "speaker" Vladimir Konstantinov accused the authorities of Ukraine of "water genocide," and demanded an international trial to force Kyiv to open the channel.However, the matter stuck at these talks and propaganda. Moscow did not dare to sue Ukraine with the demand to give water to the occupied peninsula. The Kremlin's lawyers were well aware that the claim against Ukraine would not even be considered. In accordance with international law, securing the seized territory is a responsibility of the occupying country. The lack of water in Crimea, lack of electricity, or high food prices are the problems of the Kremlin, not of Kyiv.Moscow officials were trying to reassure the population that they could solve the problem. Measures to ensure uninterrupted water supplies were put as a separate line in the federal plan for the "development" of the peninsula. In the Russian and regional media, the idea of ​​building a water pipeline from the Krasnodar Territory was discussed. In spring of last year, the head of the State Committee for Water Management, Igor Vayl, said that the idea of ​​the water pipeline had been abandoned. There was not enough water in Kuban."Patrushev's statement shows that Moscow does not have any capabilities to give water to the peninsula without Ukraine's participation.They try to convince the Crimean population that it's not the fault of the Kremlin, who seized them, but of Kyiv, who blocked the canal because of being 'nasty.' The Russian Security Council is unleashing anti-Ukrainian hysteria. Everything leads to a development when Putin will accuse Ukraine of a "humanitarian catastrophe" on the peninsula and put forward an ultimatum: either Kyiv opens the canal, or the Russian military does it.The Kremlin can make claims at the most convenient moment for them. The main deterrent here is the fighting capability of the Ukraine Armed Forces and the tough stance of Washington and Brussels on the Kremlin aggression," the medium reported.