“Russia’s war machine operates in the shadows and is behind most of the world’s strife.” My Opinion: The brain of this machine is the GRU – #GRU, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff. Putin, especially lately, appears to be their Talking Head, Figure Head, and the Cover, who tries desperately to look that he is “in control”, while been afforded the Plausible Deniability. In nitty-gritty terms, it comes to the complex internecine competition between him and Shoigu.