They dented and rendered the road inoperable months earlier.
But the thing about dams is that they're over-engineered and massive. Even with high explosives it's difficult to demolish one. Hence why dam busting bombs were large (>4000 kg) and still required underwater detonation to boost their power [0].
It wasn't unreasonable for the Russians to expect Ukraine might be able to seize a bridgehead on the far side, rebuild an operable road over the dam, and then rush armor (and logistics) across it.
Much harder and more time consuming when there are no longer any load bearing remnants available.
>It wasn't unreasonable for the Russians to expect Ukraine might be able to seize a bridgehead on the far side, rebuild an operable road over the dam, and then rush armor (and logistics) across it.
It was, as much as it was unreasonable for russians - that's why they ran over to that side of river.
But the thing about dams is that they're over-engineered and massive. Even with high explosives it's difficult to demolish one. Hence why dam busting bombs were large (>4000 kg) and still required underwater detonation to boost their power [0].
It wasn't unreasonable for the Russians to expect Ukraine might be able to seize a bridgehead on the far side, rebuild an operable road over the dam, and then rush armor (and logistics) across it.
Much harder and more time consuming when there are no longer any load bearing remnants available.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chastise#The_attac...