Seething over Ukrainian drone strikes and angered by what they see as a failed U.S. promise to broker an end to the war on favorable terms, Russian hardliners are urging President Vladimir Putin to ‌abandon diplomacy and escalate.

Calls for tougher measures are not new. Nationalist voices have long pressed for full mobilization, the destruction of Kyiv's government quarter, the assassination of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and strikes on European drone factories. Some hawks have even called on the Kremlin chief to consider using tactical nuclear weapons.

But Ukraine's ‌deep strikes this month — targeting Moscow, St Petersburg and Crimea, as well as what Russia said ⁠were two deadly attacks on passenger buses — have sharpened and intensified those demands.

Analysts say the increasingly ⁠strident rhetoric reflects growing unease ⁠over the reach and impact of Ukrainian drone attacks, and a broader debate about how Russia — with its vast territory — can ‌defend itself while still pursuing its war aims in a conflict it launched in 2022.

"What else needs to happen before we........

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