Moscow Digs In for a Long War as Strikes Hit Kyiv and Crimea

Moscow is signalling it is settling in for years more fighting. Russia's draft 2027 budget sets record military spending despite economic strain, Bloomberg reports, and the Financial Times says Zelensky and European officials expect intensified Russian winter strikes meant to isolate Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa. That campaign was already visible overnight in Kyiv, where Russian forces hit the Southern Bridge for the third time in a single day, damaging a 25-storey residential block in the Darnytskyi district, mayor Klitschko said. The city's defence council called an emergency session over reported structural damage to the Paton bridge as well. Ukraine answered in Russia's rear: Zelensky said strikes hit oil infrastructure, airfields and ammunition depots in the Samara and Volgograd regions, while separate Ukrainian strikes on energy facilities left much of Crimea without power. Zelensky also flagged a strain on Ukraine's own capacity, saying roughly half its F-16 fighters remain tied up in European repair depots. The ripples reached further afield. Seoul threatened further action against Kyiv unless it apologises over a row about North Korean POWs. Washington diverted $52 million in military aid from Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia and Iraq to Latin America despite a congressional moratorium, and Macron phoned Trump to coordinate a response to record European fuel prices.