The Kremlin has shown a greater appetite for risk. These units of the GRU are a perfect fit.
Das neue Raketensystem «Awangard» heizt den Rüstungswettlauf bei Hyperschallwaffen weiter an. Dieser findet in einem wachsenden rechtlichen Vakuum statt.
https://www.inopressa.ru/article/28Dec2018/nzz/avangard.html
http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C24761BB6C67
We are living in momentous times. The key phenomena of 2016 and 2017 continued to dominate 2018: Brexit and Donald Trump. This was not just because of their own unpredictability and international impact but also because they illustrate a wider disruption of the established rules-based international
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/putin-poses-a-bigger-threat-than-populism-3rld2dh6q
https://sobesednik.ru/politika/20181224-svadebnyj-kancler
https://www.inopressa.ru/article/25Dec2018/newsweek/attack.html
https://lb.ua/world/2018/12/25/415544_frantsiya_podlival_kerosin.html
http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=5C21E6D225A8A
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3842391