Crossword Genius

Eternal punishment in Motherland? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

damnation

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'eternal punishment' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'motherland?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'motherland?' could be 'nation' (motherland is a kind of nation) and 'nation' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'dam' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for damnation that I've seen before include "angry exclamation?" , "27 [HELL]" , "Eternal punishment" , "Infernal punishment" , "Cursing" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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