Do people like this realize they are monsters?

The "special military operation" in Ukraine is part of a much larger move. That move includes the gold-backed ruble, the demand for payment in rubles for gas and oil, and the end of the petrodollar.

What she's talking about is their counter-move. Not that they didn't have it planned for the future, but they know that if they don't retake what they had before, they will eventually lose everything. They can and will provoke any crisis they feel they need to.