Last year, 95 cyberattacks against water resources were recorded in Poland, Cezary Mądry, a professor at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland, said at the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku.
Report informs that he made the remarks at an event titled "Regional Perspectives on Sustainable Housing Finance to Accelerate the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals."
According to him, water resources are not only a natural resource but are also used as a weapon in international conflicts.
Mądry said Poland had one of the lowest levels of water resources per capita in Europe. He noted that the safe level set by the United Nations was 1,700 cubic metres, while Poland had 1,300–1,600 cubic metres of water per capita.
He added that although the situation in the north and south of the country was satisfactory, serious difficulties existed in its central regions.
The professor stressed that water plays an important role in military and political conflicts. He said water remained a weapon today, just as it was in the Middle Ages.
According to him, in the modern era, water resources serve as a tool of pressure and destabilisation in international conflicts. In this regard, he said, managing access to water is of critical importance.
Mądry said water resources were currently being used as a weapon in international conflicts and that water had become a tool of pressure and destabilisation. He cited the Six-Day War, the Syrian civil war, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Iraq War as examples where water was a problem.
He also noted that Russia's destruction of the Nova Kakhovka reservoir two years ago had led to the disappearance of a large lake on the Dnipro River and posed a serious threat to a nearby nuclear power plant.