The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine categorically denies Russia’s latest absurd accusations of Ukrainian authorities allegedly preparing to destroy the dams of the Kyiv hydroelectric power station, the Kaniv reservoir, or other infrastructure in order to allegedly blame Russia.

There can be no realistic purpose or motive for Ukraine to destroy its own infrastructure or endanger its own people. As for "putting the blame on Russia", the Russian regime is doing a good job of that with its own war crimes. Russia’s barbaric missile strike on children in Ukraine's main children's hospital, Okhmatdyt, speaks for itself.

The only reason for the threats to civilians and the destruction of critical infrastructure in Ukraine is Russian aggression. If Moscow carries out any criminal intentions against the dams of the Kyiv hydroelectric power station, the Kaniv reservoir, or other infrastructure, the aggressor state of Russia will be solely responsible for such actions.

The real purpose of such statements by Moscow is to intimidate Ukrainian society and mislead the international community and the media. Russia has demonstrated this strategy many times before: accusing others of what it does or plans to do. Russia's latest fantasies about the Dnipro dams are a reason for the international community to monitor Russia's actions even more vigilantly. 

Last year, Russia committed the largest man-made infrastructure disaster in Europe in recent decades by blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. It is noteworthy that this barbaric act, which led to ecocide and a humanitarian catastrophe, was accompanied by an active disinformation campaign. At the time, Moscow also accused Kyiv of this crime, contrary to any real facts. Unfortunately, many foreign media outlets then unknowingly played along with Russian propaganda by spreading news with headlines about Ukraine and Russia allegedly "blaming each other".

We urge international media not to quote Russian speakers without additional information about their previous history of lies and not to equate Ukrainian and Russian statements. A professional approach to quoting professional Russian liars is to provide context, not simply paraphrase their words.