About the idea of Ukraine blowing the dam up - the lowest by some way of three possibilities, Russia blowing it up, maintenance issue, Ukraine blowing it up.
It is just, just possible that it was due to lack of maintenance but infinitely more likely that it was Russian - because
Russia's threatened to do it.
Some Russian soldiers have been filmed claiming to have done it
Russia has controlled the dam for over a year. How could Ukraine have planted explosives in the control room and turbine room in that time? Juuust possibly maybe at the base of the dam section that blew, but very unlikely
The engineering types say that it's not a stormshadow for tech reasons that are beyond me.
Timing - they did this at the point where they are running scared of the counteroffensive and they wanted to hold the AF of Ukraine up. Militarily it makes sense to blow a dam when you're planning a retreat, not when you're holding the ground and hoping to advance
Russia has just a week ago passed a law saying that deliberate damage to infrastructure during war cannot be prosecuted. Then they closed the dam so the pressure built up to significantly greater than usual ... and now this happens. Now coincidences do happen, but this one is very strange.
Ukraine is unlikely to have blown its own dam up when overall it seems to try its best to evacuate people to safety and to preserve its land. The catastrophe is going to have ramifications for many years.
Now, if after proper examination it's found that Ukraine was responsible after all, I'll eat my hat. But as it is, I think my hat's perfectly safe.