alt Hacker Newsnone-the-less, it is a clear escalation ON THE INVOLVEMENT OF EUROPE AND THE US in the war.
It is not that Ukraine are escalating the war by using long-range missiles. Of course Russia have been using them all along.
But it is a clear escalation in western 'participation' in the war.
So "finally replying to constant attacks" gets redefined by putin as escalation, no surprise here. Or is there any other argument I'm missing?