[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Pointman

I also think, that the perceptions of Putin is a bit off in that he is being portrayed as a thug who does as he pleases. To me, he looks more like a desperate man, who is being cornered. Like that Crimea annexation, it happened because the west had toppled a Moscow puppet in Ukraine, so Putin felt he has to act or he is next.

This murder is more or less a "hands off" warning to MI6. Putin feels threatened by the western intelligence plotting against him in Moscow and he is trying to show his decisiveness. He is aging and declining, but he needs to make sure his spies are still scared of him, do they won't fall for a £100,000 like Skripal. It is about Putin trying to not lose his grasp on power in Russia, not so much about him trying to rule the world.

I think it's more deliberate and systematic than that - the Russian regime is trying to undermine democracy in the West. This really is the Cold War Part 2.

How Putin Meddles in Western Democracies (the Economist)