"Kiev indeed considered blowing up the dam to paralyze Moscow’s forces who were defending the city of Kherson – and even “conducted a test strike with a HIMARS launcher on one of the floodgates” – a former head of Ukraine’s Operational Command South, Major General Andrey Kovalchuk, admitted in an interview with the Washington Post in December."
Coke does funny things to one’s judgment.
One minute the Scotland Today article cites tweets that say Ukraine was shelling the dam, the next it says it was a drone.
The article also says Zaporozhzhia Region “overwhelmingly supported” annexation despite the number of Oblast residents not voting at all VASTLY outnumbering the ones who did vote.
The title of the article suggests Zelenskyy ordered the attack but doesn’t provide even an allegation to that effect, let alone a sourced quote.
A test strike six months ago, which was intended to impair the use of the bridge not to blow the dam up, proves nothing.
Russia has spent the last few weeks evacuating people out of dozens of settlements south of the river, and moving them to the coast.
Russia is currently shelling Kherson while thousands of people are trying to get out of the way of the coming flood. Quite a stroke of luck, that they were so quick to retarget and so quick to know where to hit.
Russia is also saying, Crimea’s only going to be temporarily affected by the flood because they’d planned ahead.
Russian Telegram channels can’t make their mind up. Some are delighted that this breach will wash away Ukrainian forces downriver and are cheering the dam collapse - they’re only too happy to claim the credit.
Others are blaming Ukraine but are cheering the smarts of Russia moving its people out of the path of the flood, and could care less about those who haven’t gotten out of the way.
Who was in control of the dam? I thought it was Russia. A bloody drone didn’t do THAT much damage. Heck, even a targeted missile would only have done it if there’d beem a heck of a fluke.
Russia had more to gain and less to lose; it had more rational motives; it had better means and opportunity; it got the excuses out early; it got its people out of the way first.
All VERY convenient for Russia.