From a security conference in Tallinn, NATO's deputy commander has placed a name on what many have long sensed: Vladimir Putin, bloodied but unbroken by his war in Ukraine, is growing more willing to gamble with consequences. The warning arrives not as speculation but as documented fact — covert Russian operations across Europe have more than tripled since early 2025, blurring the line between accident and act of war. In seeking to fracture Western unity rather than win on the battlefield, Putin has chosen a strategy designed to be difficult to see, difficult to prove, and difficult to answer