Ukraine Denies Alleged Plan to Destroy Own Dams

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has dismissed accusations by Russian officials that Kyiv intends to destroy its own power dams to blame Russia. The ministry called the statements an intimidation tactic and denied any motive to harm its own infrastructure. Russia's similar accusations last year remain unresolved.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has unequivocally dismissed allegations made by a Russian official on Friday, accusing Kyiv of planning attacks on its own power dams to fault Russia for the assaults. In a statement, the ministry labeled these assertions as part of a new intimidation tactic.

"The real purpose of such statements by Moscow is to intimidate Ukrainian society and mislead the international community and the media," the ministry stated. "There can be no realistic purpose or motive for Ukraine to destroy its own infrastructure or endanger its own people. As for 'putting the blame on Russia', the Russian regime is doing a good job of that with its own war crimes," added the ministry.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed without evidence that Ukraine was plotting to demolish the Kyiv hydropower dam on the Dnipro River and the Kaniv reservoir downstream. Her comments came in the wake of last year's destruction of the Kakhovka reservoir, which Kyiv attributed to Russian forces.