The scarier thought is that the russian government did not even have to do that - agent Krasnov works for them as-is.

Europeans should not trust any of that team: it is a compromised government.

The irony is that Yuri explained this already in the 1980s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5It1zarINv0

It was a literal prediction of the KGB seizing power. Putin is from the KGB clique. Gorbachev really should have neutered the KGB totally.