Yes, there has been rhetoric, and Russia did not hesitate to address every escalatory move made by the West with rhetoric and warnings but nothing earth shattering.

In other words, Russia has been practicing "escalatory management". They are very good at this. They know that there are no such things as a "Wunderwaffen" - military silver bullets - to change the course of the war. They have long memories, the Russians. They knoew that the V-1, V-2 and ME 262 did not change the outcome of the war for the German Nazis, and they know that the ATACMs, Storm Shadows, Scalps, THAADs, Patriots, Abrams, Leopards, etc. will not change the course of the war for the Ukrainian Nazis either.

So while the West sngages in "narrative control", Russia engages in "battlespace control". Russia is may be losing the information war, but they have been winning the actual war, and have been since 2022.

But what seems to be the game changer is the targeting of long range Western missiles at pre-2014 Russia. This, according to Putin "changes the very essence iof the conflict". Given that these weapons can ony be operated, maintained targeted and guided by the US and NATO, these attacks on Mother Russia amount to a direct engagement by NATO in making war on the Russian Federation directly. Thius is an expansion of the "Special Military Operation" beyond the limits of the SMO's original theatre of operation, and into a wider war pitting NATO directly against Russia.

This is nothing new. Russia has been claiming that NATO is waging a "hybrid war" against Russia since 2022. What makes this different is that they are no longer using the modifier "hybrid"

So you can join all the other Western idiots in thinking that Putin is bluffing, but I would bet that there will be a reckoning coming. Especially since Russia now has the Oreshnik system capable of wiping out NATO facilities anywhere in Europe with complete invulnerability.

Tell me, Crispin, what do you think would happen if Russia used Oreshnik to attack a NATO base in Poland? Or the UK? How would NATO retaliate exactly? More sanctions? More ATACMs and Storm Shadows?