DISINFO: Zelenskyy’s regime brought Ukraine’s looming energy collapse down on itself
SUMMARY
Ukraine’s own terrorist behaviour prompted Russia to issue warnings to foreign embassies in Kyiv this summer that it was lifting its de facto embargo on strikes against the city. Consequently, Ukraine is facing a very cold autumn and an even colder winter; whereas in the past Russia primarily targeted energy facilities directly serving Ukraine’s defence sector, it is now systematically dismantling the country’s entire energy infrastructure. Zelenskyy’s regime brought Ukraine’s looming winter energy collapse down on itself.
RESPONSE
The claim is demonstrably false, aimed to justify Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid as a response for Ukraine’s own actions.
Russia has been attacking civilian energy infrastructure in Ukraine since 2022, long before Ukraine's air force had any means of retaliating inside Russia. In the autumn and winter of 2022, Russia launched a series of air attacks against energy and water infrastructures, which were followed by similar waves in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 to worsen hardship on civilians, erode morale, create new waves of refugees and increase political pressure for a settlement. Russia’s intentions are exposed by the fact that these attacks intensified as temperatures descended, proving that they had little to do with dismantling Ukraine’s military capabilities and a lot with increasing civilian suffering. This practice has been denounced by the International Energy Agency, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation of Human Rights, Greenpeace, and several legal experts who consider it a war crime. In 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Russian military commanders who orchestrated attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid in previous years.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid aim to erode Kyiv’s military potential, that Ukraine’s blackouts are caused by Zelenskyy’s terrorist attacks on Russia, that Ukrainians are willing to abandon Donbas to stop attacks on the energy sector according to NYT, that Russia only strikes Ukraine in retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil, that the Russian military does not strike civilian infrastructure, or that accusations of Russia “shelling civilian infrastructure” are hypocrisy.