Selling lavender at a train station in Ukraine’s Russian-annexed Crimea, Tatyana Bocharnikova said she was unfazed by the fighting or potential water supply cuts after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam.

“The wells are full of water, the river is too and the reservoirs are full,” the 64-year-old said in the peninsula’s regional capital, Simferopol.

The Kakhovka dam creates a reservoir which feeds the Soviet-built North Crimean canal that supplies the region.

In the aftermath of the dam’s destruction on June 6 which Kyiv and Moscow have blamed on each other, the water level in the reservoir fell steeply.

That raised concerns among Russian officials that the canal could run dry.

But Bocharnikova said she thought any supply disruption was “impossible”.

She also said she did not particularly feel any impact from the fighting, which has intensified in recent weeks.

Crimea was taken over by Russia in 2014 and is increasingly a target of strikes and sabotage attacks which Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out.

“We are happy to have been living in Russia for so many years. It really is good luck,” said Bocharnikova, although she complained about rising food prices.

“What can you do? You have to get through it,” she added, with a smile and a wink.

Igor Dedenov, a 21-year-old, said the water in the canal was sufficient for him and his friend to go fishing.

“It seems the level is being kept up by the abundant rain at the moment,” said the young man with short hair and a T-shirt bearing the word “Kansas”.