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A distraction from the thus-far unsuccessful counteroffensive, perhaps. The flooding damage is also greater on the Russian-held part of Kherson + this affects w
by bllguo 3y ago
A distraction from the thus-far unsuccessful counteroffensive, perhaps. The flooding damage is also greater on the Russian-held part of Kherson + this affects water supplies to Crimea. And we should flip the question - if Russia did it, what did they gain?
BTW the WaPo has reported previously that Ukraine has rehearsed this course of action in the past: https://archive.is/KP8EQ https://archive.is/KP8EQ
"Kovalchuk considered flooding the river. The Ukrainians, he said, even conducted a test strike with a HIMARS launcher on one of the floodgates at the Nova Kakhovka dam, making three holes in the metal to see if the Dnieper’s water could be raised enough to stymie Russian crossings but not flood nearby villages."
- thghtihadanacct 3y agoDistraction maybe but the only videos of water rescues out there are in Ukrainian villages. Russia had little to lose in the area but poor citizens and we know what putin thinks of them ... as easy to sacrifice as bombing apartment buildings.
- bllguo 3y agoAre we doing emotional arguments again? This very thread is a reminder of how that went w.r.t the Nordstream. However little you think Russia had to lose, Ukraine had less
- thghtihadanacct 3y agoI suppose Ukraine may have had less to lose ... as Ive said here or elsewhere ... the only side of the river showing any actual damage is Ukraine. Anecdotally, I am seeing some less than reliable reports that russian troops got 'swept away' so maybe Ukraine had something to gain. Truthfully though, I have no reason to hide disdain for putins russia as they are the invading force and have been since they stole Ukraines nuclear arms with a lie and then invaded Crimea and so forth.
- _kbh_ 3y ago> A distraction from the thus-far unsuccessful counteroffensive, perhaps A distraction from something that hasn’t even started yet? Seems unlikely. > if Russia did it, what did they gain? They stopped Ukraine from passing nearby in the counter offensive and they have destroyed Ukrainian agricultural resources for decades to come. They get to displace and terrorise more civilians which is a major Russian tactic in pretty much all wars they conduct. They are going scorched earth because they are preparing to leave and want to do as much damage as possible on their way out.