Russia is not particularly enamored by my piece on Tuesday outlining why Ukraine should blow up elements of Putin’s bridge from Ukraine to Russia.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry " the watch" Peskov referred to my piece as "madness" and says that the Russian government has opened a criminal investigation against me. The bots and a mix of Russian ultranationalists are also out in force on Twitter, where I have received at least 40 death threats and around 20 threats to my family.

Calling for another nation’s right to defend its territory, it seems, is not a popular refrain in Russia.

Still, I do suspect the Kremlin's outrage here is this is concerned with other pieces I have written — specifically on the Kremlin’s propaganda operations, foreign intelligence operations and influencing, and its affinity for killing Putin’s critics.

Do I regret my piece? No, except for the fact that I could have been a little clearer in arguing that this action could (and of course ought to be) carried out with zero casualties. The Kerch Strait Bridge is largely low-level so a strike could be carried out without risking its suspension areas and thus those traveling on its route. But I stand by my operative point: If you build on another nation's property without their approval, they have the right to remove your work.

More importantly, what Russia has done — and is doing — in Ukraine is outrageous, and they don't even deny their involvement anymore because it isn't credible. Every day, Russian irregulars act alongside Russian intelligence officers and Ukrainian separatists to steal Ukraine's territory. And in Kiev and other places, Ukrainian patriots often end up assassinated.

The Russian government now claims that I'm some kind of terrorist for writing an opinion piece on the need for another sovereign nation to push back against Russian aggression. But Russia's own actions in Ukraine are actually true terrorism. The most notable act of terrorism in recent Ukrainian history is the downing of passenger airliner MH17, committed by Russian agents with Russian weapons.

Struck by a Russian Buk air defense system, the cockpit of MH17 was shredded while flying at 35,000 feet. Its 298 civilian passengers, who had absolutely nothing to do with the conflict on the ground below them (which Russia started, of course), then died by being ripped apart as the aircraft disintegrated or when they struck the ground a couple of minutes later.

Then, rather than allow inspectors to reach the site, the Russian GRU intelligence service cleaned the site of missile fragment evidence and allowed their drunk rebel allies to walk among the rotting bodies. It took more than a week for international officials to receive access.

I respect the Russian people and their history. I have no respect at all, however, for the regime that has leveled this threat. As an extension, while I have received a number of admittedly polite requests from Russian state media to offer my comment on the Kremlin’s reaction, there are only two Russian reporters I am willing to talk to: Anna Politkovskaya and Maxim Borodin. I'll talk to them right after Putin brings them back from the dead.