Russia's state geological company Rosgeologia is searching for underground water in Libya's Sahara Desert, Russian Natural Resources Minister Aleksandr Kozlov told Sputnik.
The announcement, confirmed by the Russian Minister, marks a significant geopolitical and infrastructural development for Libya's critical water sector.
Rosgeologia is deploying advanced geological mapping and exploration techniques to locate deep, untapped aquifers beneath the desert floor.
Sputnik says the project was never completed, and in 2011, a factory producing concrete pipes for the river near Brega was hit by a NATO airstrike.
Discovering new groundwater reserves is seen as an alternative or supplementary path to stabilizing Libya's water infrastructure.
Libya is one of the most water-stressed nations on Earth, possessing no permanent natural rivers. Over 70% of its population relies entirely on non-renewable fossil water pumped from deep desert aquifers.
The Russian-led exploration coincides with a broader push for resource management in the region, including Libya’s recent signing of the Tripoli Declaration alongside Algeria and Tunisia to equitably share the massive North-Western Sahara Aquifer System.