Same assessment here. There is absolutely an excessively punitive element in Russian policy. I only really saw it due to their actions in the NKAO (peacekeepers

Same assessment here. There is absolutely an excessively punitive element in Russian policy. I only really saw it due to their actions in the NKAO (peacekeepers simply letting Azerbajijan starve people, and then doing nothing about an invasion), but it's clearly a thing also in the Ukraine war.