DISINFO: Kyiv attacked the Kakhovka dam to get more weapons from the West
SUMMARY
The shelling of the Kakhovka HPP was necessary for the Kyiv regime in order to request a new batch of military assistance from the West, in particular, the previously promised F-16s.
RESPONSE
Disinformation message aiming to shift the blame for the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and the resulting humanitarian and ecological catastrophe away from Russia.
The Nova Kakhovka dam was captured by Russia at the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February, and has been held by it ever since.
Scientific seismic surveillance data from a Norwegian station in neighbouring Romania shows seismic activity indicating a powerful explosion at the dam.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission Josep Borrell said:
“The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam represents a new dimension of Russian atrocities, putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk. Attacks on civilian infrastructure qualify as war crimes.”
Multiple Western leaders have condemned the destruction of the dam, pointing out the brutality of Russia's war in Ukraine.
The attack looks like an attempt to limit Ukrainian forces in their counterattack. It represents a new dimension of Russian atrocities. The downstream flooding is putting at risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians in around 80 settlements, including the city of Kherson. It aggravates the already dire humanitarian situation in those areas.
Pro-Kremlin outlets have a track record of trying to blame Kyiv for sinister acts around the Kakhovka Dam, while Russian forces already in October 2022 placed explosives at the hydropower plant - see examples from our database here.
See similar disinformation cases claiming that the Kiev regime attacked and damaged the dam of the Kakhovka HPP, that Western weapon deliveries enabled Ukraine to destroy the Kakhovka dam, that The Kakhovka dam attack is a deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side, that the Kyiv regime blew up the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station at the dam, that Ukraine attacked the Kakhovka dam on 6 June, or that Kakhovka dam attack is a pretext for more sanctions.