Russia’s War in Ukraine

Understanding the conflict four years on.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at evolving wartime tactics from Ukraine and Russia, a new amnesty law in Lebanon, and a deadly ferry disaster in Zimbabwe.

 “A Unique Operation”

Russia and Ukraine traded heavy—and atypical—blows on Tuesday that saw Moscow bombard Ukraine with North Korean ballistic missiles and Kyiv carry out what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called “a unique operation” on a Russian Black Sea naval base.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at evolving wartime tactics from Ukraine and Russia, a new amnesty law in Lebanon, and a deadly ferry disaster in Zimbabwe.

 “A Unique Operation”

Russia and Ukraine traded heavy—and atypical—blows on Tuesday that saw Moscow bombard Ukraine with North Korean ballistic missiles and Kyiv carry out what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called “a unique operation” on a Russian Black Sea naval base.

Russia attacked Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine, with a barrage of missiles supplied by North Korea in an attempt to exploit Ukraine’s critical shortage of Patriot missile interceptors. Over the weekend, Zelensky suggested that Pyongyang could send an additional 50,000 troops to support Moscow’s war effort, reflecting the countries’ deepening ties and Russia’s voracious appetite for manpower.

Meanwhile, in a nighttime attack, Ukraine targeted Russia’s naval base in Novorossiysk, nearly 200 miles from the front lines on the far eastern reaches of the Black Sea. Kyiv sent an array of long-range, jet-powered Palianytsia drones; Neptune cruise missiles; and unmanned naval vehicles to target military infrastructure as well as Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which reportedly retreated from Crimea to Novorossiysk. The drone attack also resulted in Russian civilian deaths, according to the region’s governor, and satellite imagery showed fires at major oil terminals.

The Black Sea is again becoming a major front in the war. On........

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