The number of ships that can travel through the vital route has fallen sharply this year because of a lack of water for the locks, raising costs and slowing deliveries.
Residents of Pozoblanco and 22 other villages in the country’s south have had to get their drinking water from tankers since April, when the reservoir serving the area dried up.
After the Kakhovka dam was blown up in June, the reservoir above it quickly drained, revealing a bonanza of artifacts that has electrified Ukrainian archaeologists.
Environmental concerns are raised anew about potential contamination from Canadian open-pit mines flowing through the waterways into Montana’s lakes, harming fish.