Monday Briefing: Russia Bombards Ukraine

New York Times

25-05-2025

Russia launched one of its largest bombardments yet
Russia unleashed one of its largest drone and missile barrages of the war on Ukraine over the weekend, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens across the country. Ukrainian officials said the hourslong assault showed Moscow had no interest in a truce.
The attacks were part of Russia's recent escalation, which has brought a spike in Ukrainian civilian casualties despite cease-fire negotiations. Ukraine's interior minister said that 13 regions had come under attack and that more than 60 people were injured. Russia appears to have been increasingly targeting cities more intensively.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine cited the attacks as further proof that 'Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day.' On social media, he called for increased pressure on President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
It was the second large-scale attack in two nights and the third in just a week. Nearly 300 drones were used — a number unthinkable at the start of the war.
Diplomacy: After the air assault on Sunday, Russia and Ukraine said they had wrapped up a major prisoner exchange that began on Friday. Each side said that 303 more people had been released, bringing the total number of prisoners exchanged from each side to 1,000.
Related: After a stint with a 'V.I.P.' drone unit led by a member of Parliament, Russian officials return to work — and promotions.
Venezuela voted for another country's land
Venezuela held an election yesterday for governor and legislators to represent Essequibo — a sparsely populated, oil-rich territory. But the area is internationally recognized as part of neighboring Guyana, not Venezuela.
Analysts say that Venezuela's autocratic president, Nicolás Maduro, is seeking to legitimize his rule abroad and also within his deeply dissatisfied nation, where the military's loyalty is reportedly fraying. Guyana's national security minister has said that border security was tightened and that the authorities would arrest any Guyanese person supporting the election.
Context: Claims to the Essequibo region are deeply ingrained among many Venezuelans who believe the land was historically theirs under Spanish colonial rule. But most people who live in Essequibo speak English, identify culturally as Guyanese and say they want to remain part of Guyana.
Voting: No independent monitors were planned to be present. Many Venezuelans have said they believe that the results will be manufactured, and officials did not provide information on how they would conduct elections in another country's territory. 'It doesn't make any sense,' one analyst told The Times.
Why Vietnam ignored its laws to fast-track a Trump deal
A $1.5 billion golf complex outside Hanoi, as well as plans for a Trump skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City, are the Trump family's first projects in Vietnam — part of a global moneymaking enterprise that no family of a sitting American president has ever attempted on this scale. And as that blitz makes the Trumps richer, it is distorting how countries interact with the U.S.
To fast-track the development, Vietnam has ignored its own laws, legal experts said, granting generous concessions. As the deal-making collides with U.S. threats to free trade, the line between Trump the president and Trump the tycoon is seen by diplomats, trade officials and corporations as so blurred that governments feel compelled to favor anything Trump-related.
In a news analysis, Peter Baker looked at how Trump has normalized lucrative dealings that once would have provoked heavy blowback and official investigations.
For more: Vietnam is eager to cut a trade deal with the U.S., but China stands in the way.
When Muhammad Ali knocked down Sonny Liston on May 25, 1965, a photographer named Neil Leifer was ringside. Decades later, the image he captured — of Ali standing, scowling above Liston — is considered by many to be the greatest sports photo ever made.
Leifer was just 22 when he took the picture. Now 82, he spoke with us about how the picture took on a life of its own. Read the interview.
Lives lived: Nino Benvenuti, an Italian boxer who won the welterweight title at the 1960 Rome Olympics, died at 87.
The artistic eras of Mexico City
Mexico City is the largest metropolis in North America, and has been stratified with seven centuries of cultural history. Our critic Jason Farago points out five sites, some famous and some fairly obscure, that begin to map the city's inexhaustible cultural prosperity.
Jason's list includes a black-and-white whale inside a stupefying library, the extravagant beauty in one of the city's underrated museums and a pseudo-Indigenous fortress. See his choices here.
Cook: This one-skillet dish is inspired by two great Greek pies, spanakopita (spinach and feta) and prasopita (leek).
Watch: 'Jane Austen Wrecked My Life' is a Times Critic's Pick.
Read: Barbara Demick's entrancing, disturbing 'Daughters of the Bamboo Grove' traces the wildly divergent paths of twins born in China under the one-child rule.
Travel: Check out these new and restored accommodations in Italy.
Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.
That's it for today. See you tomorrow. — Emmett
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