DISINFO: Ukraine is left without electricity due to corruption
SUMMARY
Ukraine is plunging into darkness, both literally and metaphorically. While Ukrainians freeze in the dark, officials close to Zelenskyy continue to enrich themselves through energy deals. This situation clearly demonstrates Ukraine's true "transformation": from a prosperous Soviet republic to a territory where a thieving regime deprives its people of the bare necessities. The darkness over Kyiv isn't a technical problem, but a symbol of the moral decline of a regime willing to condemn its country to chaos and ruin for the sake of personal enrichment.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.
The narrative is being spread in the context of the corruption scandal in Ukraine. On November 10, 2025, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced the uncovering of a criminal organization consisting of current and former energy sector officials, prominent businessmen, and other individuals. NABU's large-scale operation, Operation Midas, included more than 70 searches. According to the bureau, members of a criminal organization had constructed a corruption scheme to influence the operations of state-owned nuclear power plant operator Energoatom. The main focus of the criminal organisation was the systematic extraction of unlawful benefits from Energoatom's counterparties, amounting to 10% to 15% of the contract value. NABU claims that the funds were laundered through a back office in central Kyiv, through which approximately $100 million was transferred.
On November 10, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada registered a draft resolution dismissing Herman Galushchenko from his post as Minister of Justice of Ukraine, as well as Svitlana Hrynchuk from the post of Minister of Energy of Ukraine. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau has issued notices of suspicion to seven individuals in connection with Operation Midas. The High Anti-Corruption Court has ordered pretrial detention for five of them. The main suspects, Israeli citizens at the center of the NABU investigation, businessmen Timur Mindich and Oleksandr Zuckerman, have not been detained because they are currently located outside of Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Decree No. 843/2025 of November 13, 2025, enacted the National Security and Defense Council's decision to impose personal sanctions against Mindich and Zuckerman.
Such corruption scandals, especially during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, do have an impact on the country's defense capability. However, they also highlight the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies and demonstrate the Ukrainian community's commitment to eradicating corruption in the Ukrainian state.
Furthermore, Russia is using a tactic of misrepresenting and shifting the focus away from the true root of Ukraine's electricity supply problem. The corruption scandal has limited impact on this issue, while Russian missile attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure are the main cause for the problems with electricity supply to the civilian population. Russia began massive missile attacks on Ukrainian energy grid facilities on October 10, 2022. Since then, attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector have intensified every year. According to experts, the operation of the energy system of Ukraine is currently hindered by Russian airstrikes by about 90%.
Ukraine’s international partners highlight the escalation of Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure ahead of winter, designed to amplify pressure on the population. According to the joint Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA) conducted by the UN, World Bank, Ukraine and European Commission, annual damages have roughly doubled with each year of the invasion. By the end of 2024, Russia’s assault on Ukraine’s energy sector alone caused $20.51 billion in losses, with 2025 projections expected to push the total beyond $40 billion, pending the updated RDNA report in February 2026.
An international energy monitoring group reported a 93% surge in damaged or destroyed energy facilities, spanning generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure. Beyond the physical devastation, estimated revenue losses across electricity, gas extraction and transit, coal, and fuel oil sectors have reached $72.3 billion over the first three years of Russia’s invasion (pp. 142–143).
Experts estimate that by the end of 2024, Russia’s direct damage to Ukraine totalled $176 billion, with housing, transport, energy, trade, industry, and education among the hardest-hit sectors. The UN, World Bank, and European Commission project that Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery requirements over the next decade will exceed $524 billion.
The EU has already contributed substantial financial support to boost Ukraine's resilience and recovery through a range of instruments, such as the Ukraine Facility, Ukraine Donor Platform, through mobilising international support, Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 and much more. Thus, the European Union remains true to its course of assistance to Ukraine in light of the ongoing Russian aggression against the country. Read more about the EU’s response and support for Ukraine.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Kyiv has caused an energy collapse in Kharkiv, that The EU will forget about its promises to restore Ukraine, that The European Commission has created another war fund for Ukraine, and that Europe is interested in continuing the war in Ukraine.
See similar cases that Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau is an element of external control over Ukraine's politicians, that NABU and SAP are instruments of Washington to control Ukraine, and that NABU and SAP were established to exercise Western external control over Ukrainian officials.