Pro-Kremlin resources are spreading information that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have decided to release water from the dam at the Dnipro hydroelectric station in order to try to slow down the advance of the Russian army. However, in this way the Armed Forces of Ukraine seem to be only trying to delay the “inevitable dismissal of Russian Kherson”.

In fact, the fluctuation in the water level in the Dnipro is connected, firstly, with the Ukrainian energy system, which was damaged as a result of Russian missile attacks on it. Secondly, small changes in the water level in the Dnipro cascade of reservoirs are due to the natural process of spring floods in Ukraine.

The Dnipro cascade, consisting of six hydroelectric power stations, allows one to control and regulate the natural process of spring floods on the Dnipro River. In the spring of 2024, five of the six hydroelectric power plants in Ukraine experienced floods as planned. The sixth - Kakhovska hydroelectric power station - is not working due to the fact that it was blown up by Russia in June 2023.

Levels of flooding of Ukrainian territories as a result of spring floods are observed only in certain parts of the Chernihiv region (northern Ukraine, completely controlled by the Ukrainian army), reports the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center. At the same time, in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, water levels have decreased significantly. Accordingly, controlled water releases at Ukrainian hydroelectric power stations can in no way flood the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, where battles with the Russian army are taking place.