What is not up for discussion is the tragedy, aimed squarely at civilians, of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, attacked last night releasing the Dnieper river into the valley in Kherson oblast.

This dam provided not only local electric power but also cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

The ZNPP has been the subject of numerous incidents since this war began with battles being fought over it, and accusations flying wildly from the West as to how irresponsible Russia was. None of that turned out to be true as ZNPP was set up to be the site of a massive false flag involving UN inspectors which failed.

It doesn't matter who you back in this war or whose incentives you sympathize with. Acts like this serve many purposes, some of them military, some of them political.

And they follow a particular pattern.

Like the narrative from last year surrounding the attacks on the ZNPP, this attack on the dam begs very obvious questions.

Why would Russia attack a nuclear power plant in an area under its control?

Going back to Syria right after Donald Trump took office in early 2017, why would Assad gas civilians when he and Russia had the momentum and was clearly winning the war in Idlib province, invoking the wrath of the world?

Why would Russia blow up Nordstream 1 and 2 as they were initially accused of?