The sentiment in Washington before the Moscow attack was that Russians needed to experience firsthand the impact of the war in Ukraine. This attitude intensified as US sanctions proved ineffective, Russian advancements in Ukraine quickened, and President Putin received a high level of support from the Russian population during recent elections.
Previous attempts to make Russians understand the war's effects included drone strikes on major city centers, attacks on infrastructure, and efforts to destabilize Russia's economy.
https://www.csis.org/people/emily-harding
I mean just look at the dudes who did the attack in Moscow. They went into actual Russian territory to do terrorism and their plan was to drive back to Ukraine? Like my guy your plan was to drive through the most surveilled warzone on the planet? Possibly the most surveilled area in human history?
Needless to say these people are not smart.
Yeah, they were likely never supposed to make it back alive. Their handlers just waved the promise of another $2.5k upon their return and they naively thought they were being 'looked after'.
Has some solid info come out about the identities of the attackers? I've heard mixed reports, they got away, they were arrested, or they were killed, that could all be referring to different gunmen though.
Some have been arrested by Russian security. Don’t really know much else.