You should check some of the work by KGB defectors, counter-spies and other Soviet analysis. When we speak of the Kremlin having "plans," we mean plans they are actually going to use and are working to bring about. To watchers of the Kremlin, none of the behavior by Russia is actually a surprise. Until the hidden soviet structures in Russia are dismantled, the special services of that country and its military will remain a mortal threat to the West.
That Russia had a plan to move on Crimea should anything happen in Ukraine shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, given its strategic importance.
You might as well say that a liberal, or a socialist leadership in Canada will trigger an American invasion and annexation using astro-turf separatists and U.S. special forces wearing ski-masks.
Last I checked, “losing” Canada wouldn’t cut us off from our only warm weather port, would it?