Winds of war in Europe: the outcry in London over the abandonment of readiness, and the campaign to strangle the Ukrainian economy

Amid a stormy political-security debate in Britain over military readiness against Russia, the war of attrition between Russia and Ukraine escalates into mutual damage to critical economic infrastructure. Ukraine attacked oil refineries in Russia, and the Kremlin responded with a campaign to destroy Ukrainian steel plants and logistics centers.

A stormy political-security debate is shaking Britain over the question of its military readiness for a flare-up with Russia. Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenoch attacked Prime Minister Andy Burnham for refusing to cut welfare budgets to fund an increase in the defense budget to 3% of GDP. Former military commanders joined the criticism, warning of the army's dire state. Meanwhile, the war of attrition between Russia and Ukraine crossed a critical threshold and moved to a phase of mutual damage to economic infrastructure. Ukraine launched an unprecedented drone attack deep into Russia, involving about 1,600 aircraft, hitting the Moscow oil refinery. In response, Russia launched a campaign to destroy Ukrainian economic infrastructure, including major steel plants in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, responsible for about 90% of national steel output. About 2.1 million square meters of warehouses were destroyed, causing shortages of basic consumer goods in Kyiv. The loss of tax revenue is estimated at about $1.5 billion, and the country faces an annual budget deficit of about $27 billion.

Winds of war in Europe: the outcry in London over the abandonment of readiness, and the campaign to strangle the Ukrainian economy