Britain's biggest water firm hit with record fine over sewage and dividends

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s biggest water company was fined almost 123 million pounds ($166 million) on Wednesday for releasing sewage into rivers and streams while paying dividends to its shareholders.

Industry regulator Ofwat said that Thames Water must pay 104.5 million pounds for failing to protect the environment, and 18.2 million pounds for breaking rules related to dividend payments. It's the biggest-ever penalty levied by the water watchdog.

Ofwat said that the company, which provides water and sewage services to 16 million people in and around London, failed “to build, maintain and operate adequate infrastructure to meet its obligations” and also paid “undeserved dividends.”

The U.K. government said that the fines “will be paid by the company and its investors, and not by customers.”

Thames Water is at the center of nationwide anger over sewage spills that have fouled lakes, rivers and beaches at a time when water and sewage companies are hiking bills to modernize aging systems and cope with the demands of climate change and population growth.

The cash-strapped company has teetered on the edge of insolvency under about 19 billion pounds in debt. It won court approval in March for 3 billion pounds in emergency funding to keep it from falling into government administration.

It is currently trying to push through a sale to U.S. investment firm KKR.

Consumers and politicians have criticized the company, arguing that Thames Water created its own problems by paying overly generous dividends to investors and high salaries to executives while failing to invest in pipelines, pumps and reservoirs. Company executives say that the fault lies with regulators, which kept bills too low for too long, starving the company of vital cash to fund improvements.

“We take our responsibility towards the environment very seriously and note that Ofwat acknowledges we have already made progress to address issues raised in the investigation relating to storm overflows,” Thames Water said in a statement.

“The dividends were declared following a consideration of the company’s legal and regulatory obligations. Our lenders continue to support our liquidity position and our equity raise process continues.”

FILE - A general view of Thames Water plant in Twickenham, London, on June 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)