Russian President Vladimir Putin has called accusations that Russia is planning to invade Europe "utter nonsense" This was reported by the Tass news agency. “As for the accusation that we are planning to invasion Europe after Ukraine, this is complete nonsense intended solely to intimidate the population into paying them more money,” Putin said in a meeting with Russian Air Force pilots in the western Tver region.
They need to justify themselves, so they are intimidating their population with a potential Russian threat while trying to expand their dictatorship.