A number of Kremlin media outlets and social media users have begun spreading a fake claim that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has allegedly decided to postpone the start of the heating season until 1 November 2025. In these messages, propagandists try to scare Ukrainians by saying that “people will have to heat their apartments with wood-burning stoves in winter” and that the state is supposedly unprepared to provide heat to homes. StopFake explained why this is false.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy has refuted this information. The ministry emphasized that the heating season in 2025 will begin as planned, and that decisions on its start and end are made by local authorities depending on the average daily temperature in a given region. If the temperature remains below +8°C for more than three consecutive days, local governments have the right to start heat supply.

The manipulation arose from a government resolution on imposing special obligations (PSO) on the natural gas market. This document does mention the date 1 November 2025, but it has nothing to do with the actual launch of heating. The Ministry of Energy explained that this date is used solely as a technical marker for the start of the period during which fixed gas prices for households apply – from 1 November 2025 to 31 March 2026. It concerns only the gas supply period, not the physical provision of heat to homes.