BRUSSELS, June 14. /TASS/. The recent European Parliament’s debate on the collapse of the Kakhovka dam collapse once again proved that the European Union automatically blames Russia for all crimes committed by the Kiev government, the Russian Permanent Mission to the European Union has said in a statement.

The mission stressed that similar crimes were made possible by "the uncontrolled flow of Western weapons to Ukraine, including those supplied by the EU member states."

"Remarks, made by the Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the European Commission during the European Parliament debate on June 13, 2023, do not hold water. The European community could once again hear unsubstantiated accusations against Russia of destroying the Kakhovka HPP. Another ‘crime’ was also fabricated, with reference to some sources, to sound more convincing, namely the alleged Russian shelling of Ukrainian rescuers heading to the disaster zone. This, and many other things, is fully in line with the European Union’s ‘laws to challenge Russia’s disinformation,’ which automatically hold our country responsible for any crime committed by Kiev," the statement says.

"These ‘laws’ do not envisage studying alternative sources of information, as well examining facts and evidence. They prefer to pretend that they have not heard Russia’s warnings about Kiev’s plans to attack the HPP, sent to the UN secretary-general and the Security Council. They are also reluctant to recall an interview by Ukrainian General A. Kovalchuk to The Washington Post, dated November 29, 2022, in which he speaks about plans to strike a floodgate at the Kakhovka dam with US-made HIMARS. Here [at the EU], Ukraine’s sabotage of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, which had key significance for global food security, went absolutely unnoticed. By doing this, Brussels has once again exposed its double standards," the Russian diplomatic mission said.

"The question of weapons that were used by Ukraine to sabotage the critically important infrastructure was not just left unanswered. Rather, it was not raised at all by the European Parliament. We are ready to fill in this gap. The uncontrolled flow of Western weapons to Ukraine, including those supplied by the EU member states, is what makes these crimes possible," the Russian diplomats added.

"As long as the European Union continues to provide massive military support [to Ukraine], no one can predict what schemes, similar to the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP, are now being nursed in Kiev," they said.

On the morning of June 6, the Ukrainian military launched a missile attack on the Kakhovka HPP, which resulted in the destruction of gate sluice valves at the HPP’s dam, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water. People are being evacuated from settlements in the flood zone. The destruction of the hydropower plant has caused serious environmental damage with farmlands along the Dnieper River being washed away. Additionally, there is a risk that the North Crimean Canal may run low and become too shallow.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the strike on the Kakhovka dam as an act of deliberate sabotage by Ukrainian forces, adding that the Kiev regime should bear full responsibility for its consequences.