The Kakhovka dam and the cheapness of western rhetoric

Following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine, politicians in the West have followed the familiar dance of condemnation. ‘If it’s intentional,’ said PM Rishi Sunak, it would be ‘the largest attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine since the start of the war’ and represent ‘new lows’ in Russian aggression. France’s President Macron described it as ‘an atrocious act, which is endangering populations.’ Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, talked about the importance of continuing to ‘support Ukraine for as long as necessary’, while the EU spluttered that ‘attacks on critical civilian infrastructure may amount to war crimes.’

A windy outing, then, for the platitudes of western indignation. Yet, if it’s proved beyond doubt that Russia is culpable for the calamity, will we get more than words? ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,’ goes Santayana’s oft-quoted aphorism.