Moscowβs operations have escalated across the continent, from employing thugs for hits in sympathetic countries to massive covert campaigns to sow havoc.
Whether it be daylight assassinations, attempted coups, or paying off right-wing aka nazis aka republicans both the scale and the scope of Russiaβs covert operations abroad have now reached a level not seen since the height of the Cold War.
The Kremlin's "active measures" against Europe and the US constitute a significant front in the Kremlin's war with Western democratic governments.
Western weakness with regard to Ukraine β failure to deliver whatβs necessary β is understood by Russia and China as failure to stand up for own interest, which is provoking more aggression to test US and partners. Chinaβs escalation in the South China Sea follows from that.