Russia and Ukraine Trade Heaviest Strikes in Months as NATO Warns Moscow on Baltics
Kyiv absorbs renewed bombardment while Ukrainian recruiters face rising violence amid manpower shortages
Russia and Ukraine exchanged their heaviest strikes in months over the weekend, intensifying fears that the war could spill beyond Ukraine's borders and further destabilize global oil markets, CNBC reported.
NATO's top military commander warned that Russia "would lose a lot" if it attacked the Baltic states, seeking to reassure alliance members bordering Russia even as Moscow escalated its bombardment of Kyiv, according to CNBC.
The renewed strikes came as Ukraine's military confronts a deepening manpower crisis at home. Attacks on Ukrainian recruitment officers have grown increasingly violent, police told the BBC, with aggression against those tasked with mobilizing new soldiers becoming a serious public-safety concern. "Everyone's afraid to die," one person said, describing the reluctance driving the unrest, according to the BBC.
The combination of intensified Russian strikes and Ukraine's struggle to replenish its ranks underscores the mounting strain on Kyiv more than four years into the war, as battlefield losses and resistance to conscription complicate its ability to sustain the fight.
The escalation also carries consequences beyond Ukraine's borders. Strategists have pointed to the fighting as a factor adding further strain to global oil supplies, CNBC reported, at a time when energy markets are already on edge over conflicts elsewhere in the world.
— Compiled from reporting by CNBC and the BBC.