Is the Russia-Ukraine War Really Escalating?

The Biden administration has had a change of heart on letting Kyiv use long-range missiles against targets on Russian soil, and Moscow’s response on Thursday was a showy one. Putin launched an experimental hypersonic ballistic missile at Ukraine, underscoring what the Kremlin views as the red line in this conflict–the red line that would put NATO at war with Russia. The experimental missile was armed with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead and aimed at a Ukrainian defense facility. Prior to Putin’s statement, Kyiv had claimed that…