My understanding is that NATO's encircling of Russia amount to repeat violations of the treaties made in the early 1990's. So these provocations are a form of baiting. Finally Russian responded and can be labelled the baddie. It's such a pattern from the Ag-American empire that stretched across continents and they played this sort of tactic to justify their invasions, their genocides adn their subsequent'settler' status in th elands they invaded..