By Alexandra Sharp
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Russian efforts to strain Ukraine’s wartime economy, intensified U.S. strikes on Iran, and border controls between the European Union and United Kingdom.
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A pedestrian walks on the embankment of the Port of
Odesa in Ukraine on Feb. 19.Oleksandr
Gimanov/AFP via Getty Images
Russia escalated its Black Sea offensive against Ukraine on Wednesday, targeting major trade routes and deepwater ports in an effort to strain Kyiv’s economy and plunge the country into darkness.
According to Odesa oblast Gov. Oleh Kiper, Moscow launched a “massive” missile and drone attack on the region that damaged civilian, industrial, and port infrastructure. That included a strike on a seven-story residential building, which killed at least three people and wounded several others. The assault was Russia’s fifth consecutive day of attacks on Greater Odesa.
The Odesa oblast is a key hub for Ukrainian cargo, particularly grain—making the region vital to Kyiv’s economy. However, repeated Russian attacks have forced local shipping operations to halt. Ukraine’s top grain exporter, Kernel, suspended activity at the Chornomorsk port on Monday after Russian strikes damaged around 45,000 metric tons of wheat and 9,000 metric tons of sunflower oil, according to a statement on the company’s website.
Fearing further attacks on critical infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looked set on Wednesday to execute a dramatic cabinet reshuffle in the hopes of bolstering the country’s war prospects. That includes replacing Yulia Svyrydenko, who resigned as prime minister on Tuesday.
“The priorities are clear: preparing for winter,” Zelensky said, referring to how Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s natural gas supply in an effort to freeze Kyiv into submission. He went on to name Sergii Koretskyi as the “most prepared candidate” for the prime minister post. Koretskyi is the head of Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state energy company. Giving him the premiership would signal how high Zelensky is prioritizing energy concerns.
Zelensky will also replace Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who was dismissed on Wednesday. The 35-year-old has gained popularity for spearheading Ukraine’s technology drive, including its drone development. But just six months into the role, Fedorov appears to have angered powerful people in the country’s political and defense circles who seek to give lucrative procurement contracts to their preferred companies.
Fedorov “made the mistake of becoming too popular,” Serhiy Fursa, a Ukrainian investment banker, told the Financial Times on Wednesday. “He also looks highly effective. And to top it off, he decided not to tolerate corruption.”
Lawmakers are expected to vote to select a new prime minister and reconfigure the cabinet on Thursday. This will be Zelensky’s second cabinet reshuffle in a year.
But political reorganizing is just one part of Kyiv’s strategy to counter Russia. Ukraine has expanded its military campaign to disrupt supply lines and other logistics vital to Russian forces. On Monday, Ukraine struck the Salavat Oil Refinery for the first time this year; Salavat is believed to be one of the largest refineries in Russia, with a processing capacity of about 10 million tons of crude per year. And on Wednesday, Ukrainian drones hit 20 Russian vessels in the Black Sea.
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Military targets. U.S. forces intensified their attacks against Iran on Wednesday, with strikes targeting dozens of sites, including coastal defense systems as well as cruise missile storage and launch facilities. Among the U.S. military’s targets was Greater Tunb Island, which serves as a strategic point in the Strait of Hormuz. In 1971, Iran seized Greater Tunb Island—along with Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa—from what would become the United Arab Emirates, and some analysts argue that the United States might be able to control the strait if it takes these islands.
According to Iranian officials, recent U.S. strikes also targeted a barracks for Iran’s 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, killing at least seven soldiers and wounding several others. Since fighting reignited this month, U.S. attacks have reportedly killed more than 35 people and injured hundreds more, Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour told The Associated Press on Wednesday, without specifying if these casualties were civilians or combatants.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday that it had launched strikes against U.S. military targets in Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait. Wednesday also marked day two of Washington’s reinstated military blockade on Iran. Since the blockade took effect, U.S. forces have “redirected” two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said. In response, the IRGC threatened on Wednesday to stop all energy exports from the Middle East. “The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” the group said in a statement.
Tearing down the fence. Spain and the British territory of Gibraltar officially dismantled their border fence on Wednesday, ushering in a new chapter of cooperation between the European Union and the United Kingdom that was years in the making.
When Britain left the EU in 2020, tensions over the contested British territory became inflamed. Suddenly, people traveling between the tiny, self-governing island and the Spanish mainland were forced to navigate border controls and custom checks that added time and frustration to their daily commutes. That came on top of the physical barrier already separating the two areas, which was erected in 1908.
Efforts to ensure the smooth flow of people and goods between the United Kingdom and the EU were slow-going—that was, until both sides signed a historic treaty on Tuesday easing border crossings. Effective starting at midnight on Wednesday, the deal eliminates border controls and custom checks as well as physically removes the Gibraltar-Spain fence.
“It has taken four years of patient, complex negotiation, but the outcome speaks for itself,” EU trade representative Maros Sefcovic said, after large crowds marked the occasion by freely passing between the two areas. “It is a very special feeling to see a fence come down.” Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo added to the celebratory mood, telling local media, “What you feel here is the brotherhood between the two people.”
Fast-growing outbreak. The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo surpassed 2,000 people on Wednesday, hitting a worrisome benchmark at a time when the World Health Organization (WHO) is scrambling to find more foreign funding. At 2,011 confirmed cases, including 754 deaths, the rare Bundibugyo strand is now the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record.
Congo has recorded 17 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was first identified in 1976. However, the most recent strand, which emerged in mid-May, has proved particularly difficult to manage, as the Bundibugyo variant has no effective vaccine or treatment yet. Just roughly two months after it was first detected, the number of confirmed cases has tripled, from 650 to more than 2,000, and the number of deaths has increased fivefold, from 130 to more than 700.
According to WHO emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu, the true number of cases is likely at least double that figure and could possibly be more than four times it. A lack of funding to combat the outbreak has also worsened its effects; so far, WHO has received just 40 percent of its $115 million request.
As a Chicago native, FP’s World Brief writer has a soft spot for Sue, one of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons ever discovered. But she has to tip her hat to Gus, who on Tuesday became the world’s most expensive fossil ever sold at auction. Sotheby’s auction house sold the 67-million-year-old set of bones for a whopping $50.1 million to a mystery bidder this week, exceeding the anticipated price tag of around $20 million to $30 million. Standing at 12.5 feet tall and 38 feet long, Gus the T. rex is roughly 61 percent complete and is renowned for his “exceptionally preserved” skull, which measures at 54 inches.
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