The Kremlin's New Law on Russian Intelligence

Putin's goal is to try to confuse things and leave what he considers his opponents, including the US military, unsure about how to react. In September 2018, Putin passed a new law that said that any information concerning groups who cooperated with Russian intelligence agencies was now retrospectively classified. Any investigative reporter who tries to figure out what the Wagner group or any other group like it is doing can be prosecuted for high treason for revealing state secrets. That's all very well for the Kremlin to sow confusion, but it could result in a situation that becomes... Very, very fraught and lead to a potential escalation between Russia and the United States.