Russian media are actively spreading disinformation about the cholera “epidemic” in Kherson, which the Ukrainian authorities are allegedly trying to hide. “The infection broke out in Kherson, controlled by Kyiv, because the Ukrainian authorities did not carry out sanitary treatment after the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric station”, claim pro-Kremlin media. This fake news began to be promoted by Russian media and bots on social networks on the first anniversary of the Russian terrorist attack when the Kakhovska hydroelectric power station was blown up.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They found that as of July 2024, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine had not recorded a single case of cholera. According to WHO data published on June 19, in the first half of 2024, 105 cases of cholera were registered in the European Region - all of them were on the island of Mayotte (an overseas region of France). In Ukraine, no cholera outbreaks were recorded in 2024.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by an infection of the intestines by harmful bacteria. Clean drinking water and proper sanitation can prevent a cholera outbreak, but due to Russian aggression and a significant deterioration in quality of life, frontline communities do face an increased risk of infectious diseases. That is why the Russian media have been methodically spreading this fake news since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The purposeful destruction by the Russian army of Ukrainian critical infrastructure, including water supply and sanitation systems, creates ideal conditions for the emergence of infectious epidemics in Ukrainian territories. However, Ukraine is effectively overcoming these challenges by strengthening monitoring of the epidemiological situation in the country. Since June 2024, seasonal enhanced cholera surveillance has been in effect in Ukraine - patients with acute intestinal infections are additionally screened for cholera. Active research of environmental samples is also carried out: monitoring of wastewater, fresh and seawater samples.

The beginning of the season of enhanced surveillance of intestinal infections in Ukraine became the basis for the spread of the Russian fake, although continuous surveillance of cholera in the country is carried out throughout the year, and in the period from June 1 to October 1, monitoring is intensified. This is a routine process due to the fact that an increase in ambient temperature creates favorable conditions for the proliferation of Vibrio cholerae, so the risks of infection increase.

Peaks of cholera cases in Ukraine were recorded in 1998, 1999 and 2007. The last outbreak of cholera in Ukraine occurred in 2011 in Mariupol, when 33 cases of cholera and 24 cases of vibration carriers (asymptomatic patients) were recorded - the infection was brought to the port city from another country. The Ministry of Health of Ukraine notes that cholera is not an endemic disease in Ukraine. The infection is common in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South and Central America.

After the Russian terrorist attack with the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station on June 6, 2023, it was Russia that refused to allow independent experts, observers and humanitarian workers into the territory of the destroyed station and flooded Ukrainian settlements. Ukraine not only initiated the investigation, but also fully cooperated with independent experts, providing full access to the affected areas, witnesses, all information and evidence.