Mitryasova, O. CHRONICLES OF THIRST: DOCUMENTING MYKOLAIV'S WATER SECURITY CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN A WAR-AFFECTED CITY: Monograph. Mykolaiv: PMBSNU, 2026, 124 p.

CHRONICLES OF THIRST: DOCUMENTING MYKOLAIV'S WATER SECURITY CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN A WAR-AFFECTED CITY Archival photos of that time (Fig. 1. 12) Terrible consequences are visible: the openwork steel mesh was mutilated, the water tank was thrown to the ground, and the structure itself fell like a wounded giant. The tower, which symbolized progress, turned into a pile of scrap. Along with the tower, pumping stations and sewage treatment plants were disabled. The city was on the verge of an epidemiological catastrophe — without a drop of water in the network. Fig. 1.12. Shukhov Tower after the Nazis blew up in March 1944 (photo from open archival sources). The restoration of the Shukhov Tower after the Second World War became a symbol of the revival of Mykolaiv (Fig. 1.13). Then, in 1944-1945, engineers and ordinary citizens did the almost impossible. The unique hyperboloid design has been leveled and repaired. Although after the launch of the Dnipro water supply system, the tower ceased to perform its direct function and became an architectural monument, it remained the "guardian" of water supply. Analyzing the events of the Second World War, it is impossible to avoid parallels with modernity. The methods of the aggressors have changed only technically, but their essence has remained unchanged. In 1944, the enemy blew up the tower to stop life in the city; in 2022, Russian troops blew up the pipe of the Dnipro-Mykolaiv water pipeline in the Kyselivka area, causing a water blockade. In both cases, water was used as a weapon. The destruction of the Shukhov Tower in 1944 was the first large-scale "document of thirst" in Mykolaiv. Today's resilience of Mykolaiv residents lining up for water is a continuation of the same genetic code of resistance that was laid down eight decades ago. 21