If Russia needs a pretext for more malicious activity, they can always make up a genocide or whatever, so this part does not really bother me.
I don’t think about it in terms of a pretext. I do think that when someone at the FSB reports to Putin about the damage done to Russia by an attack like this, they might want to propose options about how to retaliate.
I don’t think about it in terms of a pretext. I do think that when someone at the FSB reports to Putin about the damage done to Russia by an attack like this, they might want to propose options about how to retaliate.
Motivating nonstate actors matters as well.