While griping about tensions with Russia, NATO is once again dramatically ratcheting up the sense of unease along the Russian frontier, with what they are calling their “largest ever” submarine wargames just off Russian waters.

During the exercises, a number of NATO submarines will launch simulated sneak attacks on Baltic ships, and officials are emphasizing the proximity to Russia adds “relevance to the exercise.”

British officials in particular say the exercise is meant to reassure the Baltic NATO member states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, of NATO’s ability to defeat “Russian aggression” in the region.

Yet this is the latest in a long series of massive NATO exercises deliberately set up along the Russian frontier, and while officials keep claiming it is the Russians behaving aggressively, it seems that NATO is the one demonstrating bellicosity.