A Week of Escalation: Strikes, Scandals, and Shifting Alliances

This week Russia launched a massive weekend assault of more than 450 drones and dozens of missiles, knocking out power, water, and heating for over 100,000 households in Kharkiv. Ukraine’s military held firm in Pokrovsk, while a major corruption probe expanded with NABU raids targeting senior officials and former presidential associates. Ukrainian long-range drone strikes ignited fires at multiple Russian refineries deep inside Saratov, Engels, and Orenburg, coinciding with a controversial US effort at the UN to soften language condemning Russia’s occupation. President Zelensky visited Kherson on the anniversary of its liberation, pledging stronger defenses as the city continues to face relentless shelling. Midweek, Ukraine’s justice and energy ministers resigned amid a widening kickback scandal, while G7 ministers in Canada committed new winter aid for Ukraine’s battered energy grid and rolled out additional sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet and affiliated entities. The week closed with Ukraine debuting its new “Flamingo” cruise missile in strikes across Russia, and with Kyiv suffering one of its most destructive attacks yet, as missiles and drones hit nearly every district, killing civilians and heavily damaging residential buildings and critical infrastructure.