This is the message propagandists use on social networks and on enemy telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. It says that Ukraine “provoked an ecological catastrophe” by allegedly lowering the water level in the Dnipro river lower and lower so that the river would freeze faster. As “evidence”, the authors of the messages publish various photographs and videos in which you can really see the shallow Dnipro and dead fish.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project investigated the case and found that the drop in the water level in the Dnipro was not at all connected with the work of the Ukrainian army, but with Russian shelling, as a result of which the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant was damaged. On January 19, the Zaporizhzhia regional prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “On violation of the laws and customs of war”. Currently, priority investigative actions are underway to establish the amount of damage caused to the environment.

“Due to the hostilities and terrorist activities of the occupying troops, it is impossible to plan and carry out any repair and restoration work at the Kakhovka HPP. But everything needs to be fixed and the losses must be counted. According to preliminary data, the amount is already about 105 million hryvnia. The revealed facts have all the signs of a crime against the environment. The aggressor country must answer for them in full”, said Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional administration.