The main initiators of the full-scale invasion of the russian federation into Ukraine were director of the FSB Alexander Bortnikov, and secretary of the russian security council Nikolai Patrushev. This is written by The Times British newspaper.
According to the sources of the newspaper, Bortnikov and Patrushev understood that russian president vladimir putin was already almost 70 years old and there would be no other such chance to persuade him to go to war.
At the same time, defense minister Sergei Shoigu hesitated about the need for an offensive.
According to one russian official, by mid-summer 2021, a "critical mass" of opinion in putin's inner circle of friends and advisers had rallied around the need for a "decisive military strike".
At the end of summer 2021, the "fundamental decision" on the need for an invasion was already made by top security officials Patrushev and Bortnikov.
According to The Times, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was fully aware that there was already a firm set for war in putin's inner circle, although he himself did not know that these plans would include an attack on Kyiv until the last hours on the eve of the "operation".
As previously reported, according to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), russian dictator putin is preparing not for a nuclear strike, but for a long conventional war in Ukraine.