In a way, this says it all: Just as the Ukrainians are finally launching their long-expected counteroffensive against the Russian invaders, the latter preempt the former with another war crime.
The Russians appear to have blown up the huge Nova Kakhovka Dam that blocks the Dnipro River — Kyiv is certainly blaming the Moscow, and it’s hardly plausible that the Ukrainians did it. The floodwaters will deluge several villages and maybe a city. The attack will probably also put a hydroelectric power plant out of commission. It may even compromise the cooling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant just up the river.
Is this fair game? There are different ways to answer this question, none of them satisfying. You can start with the inner logic or illogic of warfare, the long history of such tactics or international law. But however you choose to look at these Russian detonators, they’re hardly comparable to Britain’s Dambusters of 1943.