A World Unhinged.

Tapping the credit line.

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1. Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled to Vladimir Putin that ties between the two nations remain strong, as the Russian leader embarks on a new term with the war in Ukraine dragging into its third year. Xi said his nation was “ready to work with Russia as a good neighbor, friend and partner with mutual trust,” state broadcaster China Central Television reported Thursday after the pair met in Beijing. China was prepared “to consolidate the friendship between the two peoples for generations to come,” Xi added. Putin described the nations’ cooperation as “one of the main stabilizing factors in the international arena,” according to a video posted on a Kremlin social media account. (Source: bloomberg.com, italics mine)

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2. Russia launched a satellite into space in February 2022 that is designed to test components for a potential anti-satellite weapon that would carry a nuclear device, U.S. officials said. The satellite that was launched doesn’t carry a nuclear weapon. But U.S. officials say it is linked to a continuing Russian nuclear antisatellite program that has been a growing worry for the Biden administration, Congress and experts outside government in recent months. The weapon, if deployed, would give Moscow the ability to destroy hundreds of satellites in low-Earth orbit with a nuclear blast. (Source: wsj.com)

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3. All of a sudden, Russian forces are making progress in many directions at once. In recent days, Russian troops have surged across the border from the north and opened a new line of attack near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, capturing settlements and villages and forcing thousands of civilians to flee. It may be a feint. The real goal may be to divert already-weakened Ukrainian forces from critical battles elsewhere. But one thing is clear: The map of battle in Ukraine looks a lot different today than it did only a week ago. Ukraine is more vulnerable than at any time since the harrowing first weeks of the 2022 invasion, a range of soldiers and commanders have said in interviews. (Source: nytimes.com)

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