re: #108 Belafon

Possibly because Putin wasn’t sure it would work. He wanted something to tell his citizens, but that didn’t mean it was actually effective.

That could well be and that makes sense. But in any event, Putin should’ve rolled the dice, because that’s a gamble that could’ve paid off handsomely. It would show Europe, and the world, that Russian science can still be cutting edge, timely and effective and he would’ve had all the bragging rights that goes with that (yes, he’d probably be insufferable about it, but in this case, it’d be justifiable).