I had someone argue to me that Russia's invasion was justified because of Crimea's water supply.

[Tommy Carcetti]

Really.

So basically, after Russia seized and annexed Crimea, Ukraine stopped supplying the Crimean peninsula with its own water supply. Because if you have a hostile power occupying a part of your country, why bother, right? Meanwhile, after Russia annexed Crimea and 2014, they rushed to build a bridge from the Russian mainland at the Kerch Straight. If they were seriously about water, you'd think they would have built a water pipeline as well, but I guess not.

But anyways, apparently there was a drought in Crimea last summer, and therefore because Ukraine no longer supplies Crimea with water, it is to blame, and therefore we can have columns of troops march into the entire country and Kyiv and Kharkiv carpet bombed and I can't even.

[roamer65]

1. Garbage.

2014 invasion was illegal.

Ukraine had every right to shut it off.

[Jim__]

2. "According to official Russian statistics, the Crimean agricultural industry fully overcame ..."

"According to official Russian statistics, the Crimean agricultural industry fully overcame the consequences of blocking the North Crimean Canal ..."

From wikipedia:

After the Russian annexation of Crimea, Ukrainian authorities greatly cut the volume of water flowing into Crimea via the canal, citing a huge outstanding debt on water supplies owed by the peninsula. This caused the peninsula's agricultural harvest which is heavily dependent on irrigation to fail in 2014.[2][3]

Crimean water sources are being connected to the North Crimean Canal to replace the former Ukrainian sources. The objective is to restore irrigation and urban supplies to the Kerch Peninsula and to smaller communities on the east coast of Crimea.[4] In 2014, a reservoir was built to store water of the rivers of the Eastern Crimea near the village of Novoivanovka, Nyzhnohirskyi Raion. The North Crimean Canal is connected with the Novoivanovka reservoir.[5]

According to official Russian statistics, the Crimean agricultural industry fully overcame the consequences of blocking the North Crimean Canal and crop yields grew by a factor of 1.5 from 2013 by 2016.[6] The reported rapid growth in agricultural production in the Crimea is due to the fact that, with the help of subsidies of the order of 2–3 billion rubles a year from the budget of the Russian Federation, agricultural producers of Crimea were able to increase the fleet of agricultural machinery.[7][8][9]

These official statistics contrast with reports of a massive shrinkage in the area under cultivation in Crimea, from 130,000 hectares in 2013 to just 14,000 in 2017,[10] and an empty canal and a nearly dry reservoir resulting in widespread water shortages,[11][12][13] with water only being available for three to five hours a day in 2021.[12] That same year, the New York Times cited senior American officials as saying that securing Crimea's water supply could be an objective of a possible incursion by Russia into Ukraine.[14][15]

[gratuitous]

3. So if someone stole your friend's car (and I'm not saying anyone should do that)

Your friend would be on the hook to make sure the car was gassed up, taken to the mechanic a couple of times a year, and rotate and replace the tires?

Interesting theory. Stupid, but interesting.

[Ohio Joe]

4. It's kind of weird...

They have to come up with a new excuse every day.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Russia is an entitled bully. Putin is the mob boss telling Russia "You can grow up to be like me".nt

[mathematic]

6. Putin wants to erase the Ukrainian people. Every other war justification is propaganda

Putin adheres to a philosophy that the USSR breakup was a historical mistake and that territories and people that became independent are rightfully and justly a part of the Russian empire.

All the bullshit about NATO, buffer states, western imperialism, and, yeah, water in crimea is nonsense meant to make the war more palatable to anti-western perspectives. Those perspectives include anti-liberal right wingers, anti-liberal leftists, degenerate contrarians, russian nationalists, brainwashed fools, and clout or ruble chasing hot-take artists.

[Hekate]

7. Ah yes, "they blew up the dam to harm the Russians" was spouted to my husband...

… by our deeply conspiratorial daughter. Her “source” is two podcast guys in Texas.

[Celerity]

10. Rogan? Alex Jones?

Her “source” is two podcast guys in Texas.

Joe Rogan Just Moved To Texas And Is Already Being Labeled An Official Texan

https://www.narcity.com/austin/joe-rogan-moved-to-texas-this-year-and-is-already-being-labeled-an-official-texan

[BlueIdaho]

8. That person is a Putin sympathizer.

Ask them why they hate democracy and if they approve of soldiers forcing civilians at gunpoint to sit on Russian tanks as human shields.

[Dirty Socialist]

9. Tell him to fuck himself