If it's not a tit-for-tat asymmetrical war going on, then what explains the close timing of these events? The advantage for Putin is that he is successfully sending a message to US operators in Russia. Note that the response from Russia is also proportionate to the damage we cause. This isn't a broadening of war; it's surgical precision. And he's got to respond somehow! The thing that is so worrisome is that it seems to be that we go first and Putin goes second. I don't like Noam Chomsky but he was exactly right when he said the U.S. is the most dangerous and violent force in the world today.