Not trying to defend Russia's threats, but it does makes some sense, if you look at it from a Russian point of view.
Base line is this: The Missile defense system basically nullifies the MAD, Mutual Agreed Destruction, that was the status quo during the cold war. Why? Because it leaves Russia and its allies (if there are some) defenseless against first strikes, and decreases their ability to strike back, if an attack should ever come out of the west. And that is, imho what all this noise is about. They see the west developing technology that would make it possible to strike with impunity.
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