A new war crime in Ukraine that targets Russia

Russia is a dangerous enemy even in the midst of military weakness because of its ability to inflict atrocious damage on Ukraine. It is the message that, if the Russian authorship of the attack on the Nova Kakhovka dam, a civilian infrastructure protected by the Geneva Convention, was confirmed, Vladimir Putin wanted to launch yesterday. As a "war crime" described the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, who blamed the explosion on Moscow, while the Kremlin rejected its involvement.

and the U.S. maintained precautions.

This is a psychological and military blow that Europe will have to cushion with even greater support for Kiev in the region.

The objective, now with all the more reason if possible, must be to achieve a just peace that defeats authoritarianism and does not allow crimes like this to go unpunished.

A day after Ukraine began its anticipated major counteroffensive — bolstered by Western weapons — Putin appears to show that he does not abide by the laws of war or know red lines. Yesterday's attack crosses another border, flooding dozens of villages and causing a humanitarian and environmental disaster that has left painful images of thousands of evacuees.

, which was supplied with water from that dam to cool its reactors.

The Russian president also does not stop to protect his own. The dam rupture also harms Russia's Crimea, which will see reduced water supplies. In its kamikaze strategy to repel the military advance of Zelensky's troops, the Kremlin has decided to sacrifice not only the Ukrainians, whom it said it wanted to save when it began its imperialist crusade, but its own population.

that will lead to flooding. In this way, Putin also intends to avoid attacks on Russian territory, where the increasingly frequent impact of drones that have even reached the Kremlin or the sabotage on the border perpetrated by pro-Ukrainian Russians have highlighted a weakness that the president can afford.

Moscow has targeted civilians since the beginning of the invasion, using them to undermine Kiev's morale through attacks of unthinkable cruelty. Among Putin's atrocities are the bombing of residential buildings;

and the destruction of basic infrastructure to light and heat an innocent and vulnerable population that, despite everything, has withstood an appalling winter.