If there was a network operators group that encompassed both America and Iraq pre-war it would make sense that you couldn't represent both sides. Furthermore,

If there was a network operators group that encompassed both America and Iraq pre-war it would make sense that you couldn't represent both sides. Furthermore, he can't necessarily be explicit in an anti-war stance, because it is illegal for Russians to acknowledge that the war even exists. Russia went hard on censorship relating to their invasion of Ukraine. And there's no particular reason why Russia wouldn't want control over NOGs - the Internet is a war-fighting domain, and denying it to your enemy is a meaningful victory.