Why is it that some people worry incessantly about something we did or did not do as the cause of Russian misconduct, or that if we had done this or that differently, Russians might have reacted in a better way?
That is a perverted form of provincialism.
The Russians are following their own internal dynamic. I just finished reading the book on Litivenko’s assasination written by Alex Goldfarb (and Litivenko’s wife), and it details the rise and fall of the oligarchs as well as the rise of Putin and the FSB. The entire Georgia operation (misinformation dissemination, violent undercover operations to provoke justification for reprisals, be it invasions of adjacent territories, or elimination of political adversaries, etc) is a replay of what has been going on inside Russia since the early nineties. This is SOP for Russian politicians.
Forget the injured national pride, yadda yadda, THIS is how each of their leaders rises to power. They dispose of any perceived rival by any means available, including the murder of civilians, and when they reach the top they play the game on a larger scale.