Eastern Europe expert Anders Åslund sees the blowing up of the Kakhowka dam in Kherson as a new phase in the Ukraine war. He writes that Russia is now exclusively trying to destroy Ukraine and its people and has "abandoned" the original goal.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks of a "new dimension" of the war. Russia is no longer in a position to "escalate militarily in the classic way" and is "militarily quite bare", military expert Christian Mölling says.