[jevgeni]

You know, as a Ukrainian, what I appreciate the most is someone claiming to both be "in a comfy chair" and lecturing me on what is going on in my country of origin.

You have three potential explanations:

(1) The agressor, who:

- Has a history of using the very same tactics in Ukraine and sacrificing thousands of its citizens in burnt Earth approach,

- Has shot down a commercial airline "by mistake" several years ago

- Has a history and culture of endemic lying, which they also foster in Western countries through soft power and social network campaigns

- Who have started shelling the very citizens in Kherson they claimed to have liberated once they lost the city

- Benefits from the flooding massively, because it blocks off the looming counteroffensive by Ukraine

(2) The victim, who:

- Gains nothing on the battlefield by doing this and actually makes it more difficult for them.

- Has to sacrifice the lives of its own civilian population to achieve this.

- Has no history of such misinformation tactics.

(3) Force majeur.

But wait, here come the enlightened HN commenters to assign equal probability to all three explanations, disregarding all of the above, because:

- They haven't bothered to actually inform themselves (thinking that *oligarchs*, even with a Ukrainian citizenship, have nothing to do with russian secret service is another level of naive)

- They feel entitled to have an uninformed opinion

- Imply that the lives of Ukrainians are worth so little that their government would willingly sacrifice them.

Thanks, but I'll keep the outrage.