More than two years after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a top Kremlin official has said that it is now a “war,” which he blamed on the West. The Kremlin has until now insisted that the attack on Ukraine ordered on February 24, 2022, was described only as a “special military operation” to ensure the “demilitarization and denazification” of Russia’s neighbour. This term implied that the operation had a limited scope, while the use of the broader term “war” was effectively banned. “It began as a special military operation, but as soon as the clique emerged, when the collective West …