The Russian media spread this thesis after the occupiers restored power lines between the Kherson region and Crimea, blown up in 2015 during the energy blockade of the occupied peninsula. Petro Kotin, president of the national energy generating company Energoatom, said that Ukrainian electricity, particularly from the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP, does not reach occupied Crimea. "If there is a threat of stealing electricity from the Ukrainian power system or supplying it from the Zaporizhzhia NPP (to Crimea), appropriate measures will be taken in advance and will need to be carried out by our Armed Forces so that this never happens," he explained to Radio Svoboda. Kotin specified, "Crimea is connected to the Russian energy system; its frequency does not coincide with the Ukrainian one, so the automatic connection is impossible without additional expensive equipment."

In addition, Russian propaganda calls the restoration of power lines "an important step towards the economic integration" of the occupied territories of southern Ukraine in the Russian Federation. The representation of the President of Ukraine in Crimea reported that despite the statement of the occupiers about the readiness of Crimea to "become a transit region" for the supply of electricity to the captured territories of southern Ukraine, the situation would likely be the opposite. "The energy system of the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula was never self-sufficient and always required the supply of electricity from other regions. It is extremely likely that in the conditions of the occupation of certain territories of southern Ukraine, particularly the city of Energodar and the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the restoration of high-voltage power lines between the Kherson region and the occupied Crimea can be used precisely to meet the needs of Crimea at the expense of the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP," the Representation noted and added that the theft of electricity by the occupiers could create a shortage of electricity for the needs of the population of the region.