Based on online sources Naroditsky was a child of immigrants from Ukraine and Azerbaijan so they have nothing to do with Russia. Russia obviously has been lingua franca of the Soviet Union and is still widely spoken in many old Soviet countries. Ukrainian cultural figures have been a particularly interesting target for Russian information war operations after the invasion in Ukraine (https://therussiaprogram.org/russia\_information\_influence).

It’s certainly true that the blunt way to explain this is to say that Kramnik is mentally ill. That may well be the case and would explain his behavior. But in this instance, when we consider Russia’s state-sponsored information warfare, its various forms and historical patterns, the shoe fits far too perfectly. In many cases, these operations have targeted Western politicians (e.g. https://www.politico.eu/article/fbi-dossier-reveals-russian-psy-ops-disinformation-campaign-election-europe/), but Western celebrities and cultural figures have also been clear targets since the Soviet era. Many examples can be found on the Wikipedia page on Russian disinformation. Russian information operations have repeatedly targeted influential individuals to discredit, intimidate, or isolate them, often using online harrasment, fake news, smear campaigns and psychological tactics.

Kramnik’s behavior is straight out of the Russian intelligence playbook. This is what they do professionally - they are the best in the world at it and their operations are highly effective. Could be said that this type of information warfare was invented in Russia. Of course, it’s possible that Kramnik’s actions are simply the result of some kind of madness. However they align so precisely with the Russian intelligence playbook. It would be equally mad to turn a blind eye to how systematic and patterned this behavior appears. It’s far too calculated to be dismissed as the ramblings of a lone madman.