[arduanika]

Hmm. Do you think that kristjansson was using it just to mean state-backed thugs, or were they also claiming some Russia link?

(They haven't responded, and I've been downvoted for even asking the question. I am genuinely confused. I'll admit I don't follow this all very closely, but I want to understand what the phrase means here.)

[kristjansson]

Your original question was a bit of a challenge to accept earnestly. It’s a pretty charged situation; joking about ETs led me to discount it and may have led others to downvote.

That said, I described them as such because I considered the comparison to a masked and armed force of nebulous origin and ambiguous intention apt.

[arduanika]

Okay, understandable under the circumstances. In this case, I really did just want to know more. I did not know about the use of this phrase in the Russia/Ukraine context, so the only touchpoint I had was aliens. It was a confused guess, not a joke.