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.
http://www.ng.ru/itog/2018-12-28/1_7476_itog4.html
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3841863
https://www.inopressa.ru/article/28Dec2018/nzz/avangard.html
http://www.ng.ru/faith/2018-12-27/100_rel2712.html
https://day.kyiv.ua/ru/blog/politika/tomos-maydan-poroshenko-hristos-i-putin-vse-tolko-nachinaetsya
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
http://www.ng.ru/faith/2018-12-26/1_7474_avtokefalia.html
https://www.gazeta.ru/comments/column/desnitsky/12107395.shtml?updated