Russia’s War in Ukraine

Understanding the conflict four years on.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at NATO intercepting a drone in Lithuania, the threat of Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, and a long-running maritime dispute between Thailand and Cambodia.

‘Get Out and Stay Out—or Else’

NATO deployed fighter jets overnight on Tuesday to shoot down a drone that violated Lithuanian airspace. Although local authorities did not initially comment on the drone’s origin or purpose, European officials were quick to point fingers at Russia, which has repeatedly been accused of orchestrating military incursions, arson attacks, and other acts of sabotage against Ukraine’s European allies.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at NATO intercepting a drone in Lithuania, the threat of Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, and a long-running maritime dispute between Thailand and Cambodia.

‘Get Out and Stay Out—or Else’

NATO deployed fighter jets overnight on Tuesday to shoot down a drone that violated Lithuanian airspace. Although local authorities did not initially comment on the drone’s origin or purpose, European officials were quick to point fingers at Russia, which has repeatedly been accused of orchestrating military incursions, arson attacks, and other acts of sabotage against Ukraine’s European allies.

Over the past few years, NATO members have blamed both Russia and Ukraine of launching stray missiles, drones, and aircraft into the territories of Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania, among others. However, allegations against Moscow have become particularly vehement this week following an attack on a civilian train in Ukraine near the Polish border on Sunday, which narrowly missed a separate train carrying several senior European leaders, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt.

“It’s difficult not to interpret the incident, so far out west and so near the border of a NATO member state, as a message from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to Europe: Get out and stay out—or else,” argued Foreign Policy editor in chief Ravi Agrawal, who was aboard the diplomatic train when the strike occurred.

But the alliance does not appear to have been cowed. Russian strikes so close to NATO........

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