ATS Compromised - Mysterious Post Editing

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

Above Top Secret has been one big mess since these new absentee owners bought it. Too many questionable things have been going on. My list of strange and suspicious events over there is getting long now, but the latest was the most disturbing to me.

Earlier today, an ATS member created a thread in the Board Business and Questions Forum about getting everyone's attention on a serious matter. He said that at the end of one of his posts, it was edited. It includes another two paragraphs of comments he never made. He was asking how a moderator was allowed to do this and that he wanted everything after a certain sentence deleted. I saw the added comments that were political in nature, it wasn't a typical moderator edit. The main and most active moderator over there responded by telling the member that it is only super moderators or administrators who could make an edit like that, but it should have had a notice indicating such an edit, and it didn't. That was something she couldn't explain and needed to look into. The thread was closed after a couple of comments and now I can't find it anywhere I looked. Going to my browser history and going back to his thread, I found it was removed with no explanation. I sent a PM to the member about his thread with a short list of suspicious things going on, which he agreed with and will get back to me on, I guess.

It's getting really strange on ATS now, I don't want to be there anymore, and yet I want to witness it, whatever is happening. I've been finding its demise to be interesting, but these latest things are freaking me out a little. There is more, I just won't elaborate unless I get some feedback or other information here.

[GeauxHomeLittleD]

Well I haven't looked at ATS in a long time but I read your post to Kdog so he hopped on over to Deny Ignorance where a discussion is happening. I followed Kdog and started reading FCD's thread about it and in the replies an extremely reliable source said that this was not a unique occurrence and that the site is definitely not what I would consider as safe and secure. A lot of sketchy back end stuff has been going down and mods are just as clueless as everyone else. 

All of this crap just solidifies the opinion I've had for several years, the rest of y'all are just catching up.

[p358]

When the purges started, a mod (DTOM) was promoted and was the one that executed the purge.

ATS is now completely unsafe .... and .... the mods responsible are all over at DI

Work it  out people!  It is not difficult!

P

[Ninurta]

I dunno what's going on over there. When they had the kerfuffle where you had to sort of re-register to get your old account back, I did. Then, in a couple of days, my password there started not working any more. So I got hold of one of their admins and got that fixed. It worked then. Once. I got mysteriously logged out, and my password didn't work any more again. I've not bothered them since then. I figure there is someone there who doesn't want me there, and my days of going where I'm not wanted are fast coming to a middlin', so I just don't go there any more. Not even to read. I can't set my theme to "dark" without logging in, and the bright theme that is default hurts my eyes, so I don't subject myself to it. Furthermore, without logging in, I can't see the avatars, so I don't know who is saying what, so, no. I just hang here now.

I know when to not let the door bump my ass on my way out.

.

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

Thanks for the input here.

I've been hearing about more and more new problems. There is another password problem cropping up along with what has become the usual moderator issues lately. Also, I've noticed that you can't scroll down past the first page of the New Threads and Recent Threads area. Concerning moderators, I've been in contact with DTOM with my phone messenger for a long time now. When it looked like ATS was going down, we started exchanging info on Michigan politics, pretty much daily. She seemed alright to me and I never discussed the moderator issues with her on the website or my phone. I haven't been getting those messages anymore and I haven't sent any myself. Now I am beginning to regret getting so close to some of these people. I've made acquaintances that seemed connected to things, like Russian Troll for example.

Russian troll is an ATS member who I have always suspected of being from our own intelligence agencies. He disappeared for a long time at the beginning of the Ukraine War and then returned "changed" after the password lockout. I had gotten pretty close with RT for a while, but this RT is someone else IMO. Harsher, colder, and unresponsive to my comments and PMs, something he wasn't doing before. I might not have thought too much of this one if it wasn't for how popular ATS had become on Yandex, the Russian search engine. I found a comment I made in there that became a hit with the Russians after I ran a search on my member's name. That post was published on several Russian websites. After searching Yandex for some other topics I posted over there, I found out how popular ATS really is with the Ruskies. I don't want to sound like a liberal Democrat, but Russia, Russia, RUSSIA!

There have been a few other things that can be connected, but I've been getting pretty far out there about all this and need some clarity and perspective. Toward that end I'd like to hear about anything else people have been experiencing or some possible explanation for all this.

To p358,
I've been reluctant to join D.I. as all this crappola seemed to be climaxing at the point when it was being put together as a refuge for members there. Plus DTOM's involvement had me suspicious along with all the rest of that Discord crap going on to get back your original profile. Something really stinks and I feel like it's a bad idea to keep hanging around over there. But like a train wreck, I can't look away and just want to gawk as this all goes down.

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

Nothing is as it seems. Everything is exactly the way they want you to see it.

Those that are not following the programming, not regurgitating the mind Kool-aid, not dancing on Tick-tock, and daring to speak the truth, don't worry, there will be Black Mirror training camp for you.

I live in the backwoods. Mile long dirt roads. Nothing to see here.

Though we are very rapidly being over run by city folks, land being cleared to the point of no recognition, and dirt roads being erased by the millisecond, there are still miles of nothing, so why are they sticking cameras everywhere?

We are under constant surveillance. Take heed.

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter.[3] We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: There is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits

You have been told.

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

I thought I'd search Yandex for anything AboveTopSecret.com related, just to see what the Russians are up to. Well, we all know how this controversy goes way back, but you don't need to search too much to find conspiracy theories that run the gambit.

From 2006, the Pentagon . . .

Our website - Signs of the Times - represents one of many alternative sites but we seem to be doing something that most of the others aren't doing as we have now been attacked by some "serious heavies" in the form of the world's biggest, meanest, law firm that just happens to be based in Virginia - and we all know who else comes from Virginia - this is no coincidence.

As many of the readers of Signs of the Times are aware, this attack was launched via a gang we have suspected to be agents of Pentagon psy-ops - abovetopsecret.com and friends - on the night of the 22nd. We became aware that there was a problem only after many of our readers had sent emails asking why Signs of the Times was inaccessible.

SOTT Link

From 2009, this one is good, The Masons . . .

Sunday, April 12, 2009
Above Top Secret .com is Owned and Operated by Masons

Here's a link to an interesting abovetopsecret.com thread from a year ago entitled "What Are The Masonic Secrets?" I was Freight Tomsen before being repeatedly IP banned. My posts start near the bottom of page 2 here:

www.atlanteanconspiracy.com

And my favorite from 2012 on reddit, the CIA . . .

Is Abovetopsecret.com Run By Agents/Cia?? Something Shifty About That Site

www.reddit.com


Anonymous was mentioned as exposing ATS as well, I believe it's in a comment on reddit.

[Ninurta]

I thought I'd search Yandex for anything AboveTopSecret.com related, just to see what the Russians are up to. Well, we all know how this controversy goes way back, but you don't need to search too much to find conspiracy theories that run the gambit.

From 2006, the Pentagon . . .

Our website - Signs of the Times - represents one of many alternative sites but we seem to be doing something that most of the others aren't doing as we have now been attacked by some "serious heavies" in the form of the world's biggest, meanest, law firm that just happens to be based in Virginia - and we all know who else comes from Virginia - this is no coincidence.

As many of the readers of Signs of the Times are aware, this attack was launched via a gang we have suspected to be agents of Pentagon psy-ops - abovetopsecret.com and friends - on the night of the 22nd. We became aware that there was a problem only after many of our readers had sent emails asking why Signs of the Times was inaccessible.

SOTT Link

...

etc.

I wouldn't put a lot of credence in those claims. Both BIAD and I have been accused of being "CIA disinfo agents" by the same folks who were also claiming to sic Interpol on us for exposing them as hoaxers when we were on ATS. Good luck with Interpol-ing CIA disinfo agents! When that didn't work for them, they hurled other epithets at both us and ATS in an effort to gain more "street cred" for themselves - "the power of a man is gauged by the power of his enemies", that sort of thing.

That's been 14 years ago now, and they still have some of their accusatory YouTube videos up about us - and, being "CIA disinfo agents", you'd think we could have had that crap scrubbed from the internet by now!

Now, don't get me wrong - the Pentagon, CIA, DIA, FBI, DHS, ETC. does occasionally get after someone, but the bulk of those sorts of accusations usually just amuse me when they get flung about. I generally take it to just be someone trying to pump up their "street cred" by inflating the "enemies" they have to make themselves look bigger or more dangerous or "too close to the truth".

After our little scrub with the "Alien radiotelescope signal hoax", I've become somewhat jaded regarding such claims unless there is some truly extraordinary evidence. But it DOES occasionally happen, just not as prevalently as is claimed.

As an example, When we met, Grace was involved with an Islamic website. This was during the GWOT. It got to drawing too many "fundamentalists", and that drew the CIA's attention. So, the site owners, of whom Grace was one, tried to close the site down. Imagine their surprise when the CIA kept resurrecting it, bringing it back on-line. At that time, the CIA actually contacted them and said "don't take this site down any more - we're using it as a honeypot to catch radical Islamists". I also found out that all of our early phone conversations were being routed through Fort Mead, listened to, and recorded. The "monitors" were apparently having the time of their lives with some of those conversations... just not for their "Islamist" content!

So, it DOES occasionally happen, but not as frequently as claimed. In most cases, it's just a site or a group trying to puff themselves up to be bigger, more dangerous, or "closer to Truth" than they actually are by claiming "powerful enemies".

.

[BIAD]

I wouldn't put a lot of credence in those claims. Both BIAD and I have been accused of being "CIA disinfo agents" by the same folks who were also claiming to sic Interpol on us for exposing them as hoaxers when we were on ATS. Good luck with Interpol-ing CIA disinfo agents! When that didn't work for them, they hurled other epithets at both us and ATS in an effort to gain more "street cred" for themselves - "the power of a man is gauged by the power of his enemies", that sort of thing.

That's been 14 years ago now, and they still have some of their accusatory YouTube videos up about us - and, being "CIA disinfo agents", you'd think we could have had that crap scrubbed from the internet by now!...

The Hoax Heard Round The World. Pdf:

Judy In A Band: (Possibly!)

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

Nothing weird seems to be going on around here, not like over there. I only put up a few things that came up on Yandex, I was hoping for more Russian connections actually. I wasn't bringing those things up to accuse anyone or rub salt in an old wound, that is just what the search brought up so maybe that means something.

My worries aren't about U.S. agencies or people here and these old incidents, I thought it was something more malevolent like Russian agents and hackers. Being on there gives me a vibe like I was in a bad neighborhood at a drug house buying crack or something. It feels bad and is getting worse plus it just isn't delivering the topics I'm looking for anymore, not like it used to.

[Ninurta]

Nothing weird seems to be going on around here, not like over there. I only put up a few things that came up on Yandex, I was hoping for more Russian connections actually. I wasn't bringing those things up to accuse anyone or rub salt in an old wound, that is just what the search brought up so maybe that means something.

My worries aren't about U.S. agencies or people here and these old incidents, I thought it was something more malevolent like Russian agents and hackers. Being on there gives me a vibe like I was in a bad neighborhood at a drug house buying crack or something. It feels bad and is getting worse plus it just isn't delivering the topics I'm looking for anymore, not like it used to.

No harm done - the "old wounds" don't hurt, they've barely even left a scar. At least for us. James/Judy seems to have fallen from the internet however, for several years now.

Regarding the Russian links, might be. ATS has, over time, been accused of associating with nearly every government agency - foreign and domestic - under the sun. I see no reason why Russia should be any different.

The "Russian Troll" you mentioned has at times amused me. Whether I was being amused by the "old" troll or the "new" troll I have no way of knowing - I don't know what the cutoff dates were. He did seem to me to be pretty staunchly pro-Russian, as would be expected of a Russian Troll.

But what, in your estimation, would be the purpose of Russian activity/ control/ hacking of ATS? Simple dissemination of pro-Russian disinformatziy, or something deeper, like "US election influence"? Or something else?

I think, in order to begin to establish involvement, we would have to establish a credible motive for such involvement. Those folks in intel don't just fling stuff against the wall to see what will stick - they have to have a reason for flinging it. Intel agents and agencies always have a plan to work to.

.

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

But what, in your estimation, would be the purpose of Russian activity/ control/ hacking of ATS? Simple dissemination of pro-Russian disinformatziy, or something deeper, like "US election influence"? Or something else?

I think, in order to begin to establish involvement, we would have to establish a credible motive for such involvement. Those folks in intel don't just fling stuff against the wall to see what will stick - they have to have a reason for flinging it. Intel agents and agencies always have a plan to work to.

.

I don't think the election outcome is going to change anything. It is just busy work to keep us distracted.

I am more concerned about Rocket Man and Putin. I can see Russia using him the same way America uses Zelensky and the Ukraine.

Tit for tat, or something close to it.

[Ninurta]

I don't think the election outcome is going to change anything. It is just busy work to keep us distracted.

I am more concerned about Rocket Man and Putin. I can see Russia using him the same way America uses Zelensky and the Ukraine.

Tit for tat, or something close to it.

I think that whichever way the election goes, we're in for a hot couple of years. Given the current state of US political polarization, some one is bound to get mad, regardless of who wins.

I could see a Russian concern with the outcome, however, because Trump would be more likely to stop throwing blood and treasure into the Ukraine, which would be good for Russia and their desired outcome. Not so much that Trump is "pro-Russian" or a "Russian puppet", it's just that I don't think he sees any percentages in continuing a proxy war that is bound to lose anyhow in the end - why throw all that money at a losing proposition? Rich folks neither get rich nor stay rich that way, and neither did Trump. I could see him applying his personal financial policy to American foreign policy if he were to win, and that would be good news for Putin, even without having strings tied to Trump's limbs.

That by itself could be motivation for election influence on the part of Russia - a counter attack against the Democrat and Neocon proclivity for meddling in other folks' internal affairs. The same sauce for the goose also works on the gander, y'know? If we meddle in their internal affairs, why not meddle in ours to achieve a more desirable (from their perspective) outcome?

I'm not concerned with Putin using Little Rocket Man in the same manner as we are using Zelinsky. The only possible threat NK could be to the US would be to chuck a bomb at us, and they won't do that without Chinese OK, regardless of what Putin wants. China would put the smack-down on that post haste. They can't have their biggest customer being damaged by a pipsqueak roaring mouse. Bad for business, and bad for an already faltering Chinese economy. China, therefore, will reserve the right of threat against the US for themselves, so that they can maintain control of the situation.

So, that leaves us with Russian concerns in the Ukraine.

.

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

Russia, or whomever, I'm not certain. Maybe it is just a feeling that on ATS these days, something is lurking around the corner, ready to pounce on its next victims. It is run down and seedy like it has become some nasty alleyway you avoid at all times day or night. Or it is like some speakeasy after-hours type bar where the bouncers kick you out because one of the regulars doesn't like how you look.

[MrJesterium]

Russian troll is an ATS member who I have always suspected of being from our own intelligence agencies. He disappeared for a long time at the beginning of the Ukraine War and then returned "changed" after the password lockout. I had gotten pretty close with RT for a while, but this RT is someone else IMO. Harsher, colder, and unresponsive to my comments and PMs, something he wasn't doing before.

I was wondering why RT was inactive for so long.

Well, I had the opposite experience with this RT, both in public and privately; whenever I brought up Orthodoxy, he behaved amiably with me. Publicly, he responded:

"In January in Moscow I talked with the assistant of the Orthodox elder Valerian (Krechetov), we came to the same opinion, we only differed a little on the timing. I said 2026, he said 2027. But it will happen. That's why I'm calm and not afraid of anything. I know what will happen to our world."

"About 6 years ago, his descendant, the head of the Cossacks of Odintsovo, Moscow region, visited me in Saratov for Easter. He came to Saratov to support in court my relative, deputy dean of the Odintsovo diocese, chief engineer of the Church of St. George the Victorious in Odintsovo."

In our DMs, RT opened up to me, a stranger, between March 26-27, provided me with some additional info on Cossacks, and shared a story about a "Cossack" guy he talked with at a shop in a market, but he stopped responding back to me after April 5.

I might not have thought too much of this one if it wasn't for how popular ATS had become on Yandex, the Russian search engine. I found a comment I made in there that became a hit with the Russians after I ran a search on my member's name. That post was published on several Russian websites.

Whoa, the more you know! I was wondering why people would still publish their disclosures on ATS, it seemed like a lost cause to me, too many loudmouths and trolls having their way.

This is what I heard from the user WanderingMrM:

"The real question is, if I knew this ahead of time and the Russians are only just playing catch up. Is it not possible that they are monitoring the thread or are about to discover it and realize something?" [Feb 9, 23] "I think Medvedev came across my post." [Jan 2, 24]
"Also why is Estonia pretending that it didn't read my predictions? Recently Arestovych said that Estonian Intelligence uncovered Putin's plans to attack them next. I know some of them have read my thread." [Feb 21, 24]

He also explained to me why he posted on ATS, despite knowing about the government agencies. "Because this website is filled with some interesting individuals... So I wanted to see how some would respond if they do come across it. Things here will remain as a record for the Russians and others to go over, in due time eventually and I will vanish into the night like I never existed." His last topic was addressed to Muslims, yet I've never seen any of them posting on ATS.

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

Russia, or whomever, I'm not certain. Maybe it is just a feeling that on ATS these days, something is lurking around the corner, ready to pounce on its next victims. It is run down and seedy like it has become some nasty alleyway you avoid at all times day or night. Or it is like some speakeasy after-hours type bar where the bouncers kick you out because one of the regulars doesn't like how you look.

I joined ATS in 2009. I still lurk for brief periods. Since I long opted out of joining any new sites, forums, and apps, I chose not to re-sign up with ATS.

I admit that it does not feel the same. Many posts from the old timers don't always sound like them, at times, and it does feel more like the old park or tavern where everyone hung out until they went off to university. That they visit when they come home for nostalgia's sake, but there is not real connection anymore.

I miss a lot of the members, the site, not so much.

[Ninurta]

Russia, or whomever, I'm not certain. Maybe it is just a feeling that on ATS these days, something is lurking around the corner, ready to pounce on its next victims. It is run down and seedy like it has become some nasty alleyway you avoid at all times day or night. Or it is like some speakeasy after-hours type bar where the bouncers kick you out because one of the regulars doesn't like how you look.

As I mentioned, I don't visit there any more, so am unaware of the current shenanigans. Is there a pattern to the types of threads getting shit-canned? And, in the case of the post that got a couple of paragraphs added on, you mentioned that the paragraphs were political in nature, but did not say what political viewpoint they were promoting - or denigrating. Those are both clues that would help in identifying the "who" and "why" of them.

.

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

Russian troll is an ATS member who I have always suspected of being from our own intelligence agencies. He disappeared for a long time at the beginning of the Ukraine War and then returned "changed" after the password lockout. I had gotten pretty close with RT for a while, but this RT is someone else IMO. Harsher, colder, and unresponsive to my comments and PMs, something he wasn't doing before.

I was wondering why RT was inactive for so long.

Well, I had the opposite experience with this RT, both in public and privately; whenever I brought up Orthodoxy, he behaved amiably with me. Publicly, he responded:

"In January in Moscow I talked with the assistant of the Orthodox elder Valerian (Krechetov), we came to the same opinion, we only differed a little on the timing. I said 2026, he said 2027. But it will happen. That's why I'm calm and not afraid of anything. I know what will happen to our world."

"About 6 years ago, his descendant, the head of the Cossacks of Odintsovo, Moscow region, visited me in Saratov for Easter. He came to Saratov to support in court my relative, deputy dean of the Odintsovo diocese, chief engineer of the Church of St. George the Victorious in Odintsovo."

In our DMs, RT opened up to me, a stranger, between March 26-27, provided me with some additional info on Cossacks, and shared a story about a "Cossack" guy he talked with at a shop in a market, but he stopped responding back to me after April 5.

I might not have thought too much of this one if it wasn't for how popular ATS had become on Yandex, the Russian search engine. I found a comment I made in there that became a hit with the Russians after I ran a search on my member's name. That post was published on several Russian websites.

Whoa, the more you know! I was wondering why people would still publish their disclosures on ATS, it seemed like a lost cause to me, too many loudmouths and trolls having their way.

This is what I heard from the user WanderingMrM:

"The real question is, if I knew this ahead of time and the Russians are only just playing catch up. Is it not possible that they are monitoring the thread or are about to discover it and realize something?" [Feb 9, 23] "I think Medvedev came across my post." [Jan 2, 24]
"Also why is Estonia pretending that it didn't read my predictions? Recently Arestovych said that Estonian Intelligence uncovered Putin's plans to attack them next. I know some of them have read my thread." [Feb 21, 24]

He also explained to me why he posted on ATS, despite knowing about the government agencies. "Because this website is filled with some interesting individuals... So I wanted to see how some would respond if they do come across it. Things here will remain as a record for the Russians and others to go over, in due time eventually and I will vanish into the night like I never existed." His last topic was addressed to Muslims, yet I've never seen any of them posting on ATS.

That sounds like the old RT. If he has been like that more recently, perhaps I was wrong. He is spouting a lot of propaganda lately and seems pretty heavy handed in his approach too. Maybe it is still the old RT and he has had something happen, or not, it just seems like it isn't him to me.

[Bally002]

Russian troll is an ATS member who I have always suspected of being from our own intelligence agencies. He disappeared for a long time at the beginning of the Ukraine War and then returned "changed" after the password lockout. I had gotten pretty close with RT for a while, but this RT is someone else IMO. Harsher, colder, and unresponsive to my comments and PMs, something he wasn't doing before.

I was wondering why RT was inactive for so long.

Well, I had the opposite experience with this RT, both in public and privately; whenever I brought up Orthodoxy, he behaved amiably with me. Publicly, he responded:

"In January in Moscow I talked with the assistant of the Orthodox elder Valerian (Krechetov), we came to the same opinion, we only differed a little on the timing. I said 2026, he said 2027. But it will happen. That's why I'm calm and not afraid of anything. I know what will happen to our world."

"About 6 years ago, his descendant, the head of the Cossacks of Odintsovo, Moscow region, visited me in Saratov for Easter. He came to Saratov to support in court my relative, deputy dean of the Odintsovo diocese, chief engineer of the Church of St. George the Victorious in Odintsovo."

In our DMs, RT opened up to me, a stranger, between March 26-27, provided me with some additional info on Cossacks, and shared a story about a "Cossack" guy he talked with at a shop in a market, but he stopped responding back to me after April 5.

I might not have thought too much of this one if it wasn't for how popular ATS had become on Yandex, the Russian search engine. I found a comment I made in there that became a hit with the Russians after I ran a search on my member's name. That post was published on several Russian websites.

Whoa, the more you know! I was wondering why people would still publish their disclosures on ATS, it seemed like a lost cause to me, too many loudmouths and trolls having their way.

This is what I heard from the user WanderingMrM:

"The real question is, if I knew this ahead of time and the Russians are only just playing catch up. Is it not possible that they are monitoring the thread or are about to discover it and realize something?" [Feb 9, 23] "I think Medvedev came across my post." [Jan 2, 24]
"Also why is Estonia pretending that it didn't read my predictions? Recently Arestovych said that Estonian Intelligence uncovered Putin's plans to attack them next. I know some of them have read my thread." [Feb 21, 24]

He also explained to me why he posted on ATS, despite knowing about the government agencies. "Because this website is filled with some interesting individuals... So I wanted to see how some would respond if they do come across it. Things here will remain as a record for the Russians and others to go over, in due time eventually and I will vanish into the night like I never existed." His last topic was addressed to Muslims, yet I've never seen any of them posting on ATS.

That sounds like the old RT. If he has been like that more recently, perhaps I was wrong. He is spouting a lot of propaganda lately and seems pretty heavy handed in his approach too. Maybe it is still the old RT and he has had something happen, or not, it just seems like it isn't him to me.

My Auntie went off the rails after one too many vodkas too,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I'll let myself out

Bally

[MrJesterium]

That sounds like the old RT. If he has been like that more recently, perhaps I was wrong. He is spouting a lot of propaganda lately and seems pretty heavy handed in his approach too. Maybe it is still the old RT and he has had something happen, or not, it just seems like it isn't him to me.

Yeah, I talked with him this year. Maybe religion was the key to meeting him at his level. Generally, most online friendships stop at geniality and politeness. RT does seem to have turned his agitation up a notch, maybe he was just waiting for the right time to return.

I heard most of the Russian people were pissed off after Belgorod and started to demand for Putin to retaliate with heavy weapons, a Russian guy told me he hadn't seen Russians so angry in all two years of the war. The Crocus attack also pissed them off, if Putin traces back the attack to the US, the Russians will rally behind him.