A retired Navy captain and former intelligence officer warned during an interview this week with Fox News that the war in Europe between Russia and Ukraine could quickly escalate into a much larger war if Russia conducts a false flag operation.

“I think there is still risk of more expansionism,” Steven Horrell told the network. “There’s a risk of something sparking an escalation, some sort of incident on the high seas, or in international airspace, or a fabricated incident for some sort of cross-border thing that could lead to further escalation.”