Hmm. So Russia claims to have held off the counteroffensive, while Ukraine claims that wasn't the counter offensive.

2 tank battalions, mechanized infantry battalions, some 3,000 men, doesn't really sound like a recon force, let alone a probe of the front.

Ukraine can claim it wasn't the counteroffensive if it fails to break through, but if it had, it would have been the counteroffensive. Or, at least the start of it.

Did Russia need to blow this dam? I doubt it. But if this had been the counteroffensive, and failed, losing 16 tanks after spending months begging for them, I could see Ukraine blowing the dam as a hail Mary to get the West more involved. Because as we know, attacks on critical infrastructure are tantamount to the use of WMDs to the international community.