Russian and American survivors both stated that the other country launched the initial attack. Based on research done by Liz Mendoza and her family at UCLA, it was believed that the Soviets launched their missiles first, likely due to the continued presence of hardliners (including Vyacheslav Molotov) in the Soviet government. She theorized that the war might have been caused due to a differing escalation over the Vietnam War or the Six-Day War.