Semafor Security

In the Middle East, the deterioration of the US-Iran ceasefire has reignited fears of a prolonged regional war. In Europe, Moscow launched one of its largest ballistic missile attacks against Ukraine while Kyiv ramped up its bombing campaign.

Europe remains reliant on China and the US for critical military components even as it projects confidence in shouldering its own defense.

In targeting Crimea, Ukraine is trying to demonstrate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s failure to defend the peninsula.

Ukraine and its European allies on Monday announced a coalition to develop an anti-ballistic missile system to protect against Russian attacks.

The US on Sunday launched its heaviest assault on Iran in weeks, while Tehran hit Gulf nations and announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Ukraine’s prime minister stepped down on Sunday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy oversees a sweeping government reorganization spurred by a new “political strategy.”

Russian spies who descended on Japan in recent years are now central to smuggling battlefield technology to Moscow — apparently right under the nose of the authorities in Tokyo.

A raft of new defense investments by NATO members haven’t proved enough to appease the US leader.

The US president “wants to be where there’s success,” Zelenskyy told the Financial Times.

Along Europe’s eastern flank, countries are stockpiling, fortifying, and preparing to go it alone in the face of Russian aggression.

Russia and Ukraine both launched strikes, vying for the upper hand ahead of a key NATO summit this week.

As NATO leaders head into this week’s annual summit, the alliance increasingly resembles a marketplace defined by defense spending and procurement as much as shared values, analysts said.