Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Russian retaliation for a Ukrainian targeted strike, the United States killing an Islamic State leader in Syria as U.S. diplomats visit Damascus, and Canada’s cabinet reshuffle.
World Brief will be taking a short break for the holiday season. The newsletter will return to your inbox on Dec. 30.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Russian retaliation for a Ukrainian targeted strike, the United States killing an Islamic State leader in Syria as U.S. diplomats visit Damascus, and Canada’s cabinet reshuffle.
World Brief will be taking a short break for the holiday season. The newsletter will return to your inbox on Dec. 30.
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Missiles, Drones, and Cyber Warfare
Russian forces have launched a massive, multifaceted attack on Ukraine over the past 24 hours. On Friday, Moscow fired five ballistic missiles at Kyiv, all of which the Ukrainian Air Force said it intercepted. Fragments of the downed missiles, however, caused some casualties and significant damage to five districts in the capital. “There are dead and wounded,” Ukrainian officials said on Friday, reporting at least one person killed and another 12 people injured.
More than 600 buildings also lost heating due to the strike, at a time when Kyiv is recording temperatures close to freezing. Among those hit included the embassies of Albania, Argentina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Palestine, and Portugal, which were all located in the same building.
“Portugal demands strict respect for international law,” Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro posted on X in condemnation of the Kremlin’s attack. No foreign diplomats were injured during the strike.
The use of ballistic missiles is a rare occurrence for Moscow, as the weaponry costs millions of dollars to produce. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the strike on Kyiv was a response to Ukraine launching six missiles from its U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System and four British-made Storm Shadow missiles on Wednesday. Those strikes targeted Russian plant that produces fuel for Moscow’s Iskander missiles. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously warned that Ukraine’s use of long-range Western-supplied weapons could incite a direct war with NATO.
Moscow also fired more than 60 missiles and drones overnight at Ukrainian cities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions as well as at the city of Kherson, where Russian forces tried and failed to break through Ukrainian defenses near the Dnipro River, according to local officials.
Also on Thursday, Ukrainian Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna accused a Russian hacking group of attacking the country’s digital critical infrastructure. This was “the largest external cyberattack” on Kyiv’s official online registry for legal documents, Stefanishyna wrote on Facebook. She estimated that the initial recovery time for targeted networks could take roughly two weeks.
Fighting remains ongoing, as Moscow’s Defense Ministry claims that it has taken two more settlements in the occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk, and Kyiv’s Defense Ministry says that Russian single-day troop losses reached 2,200 soldiers on Friday, its highest daily death toll since the Kremlin’s February 2022 invasion began.
On Thursday, Putin said he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in peace talks mediated by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The Russian leader said he has no conditions for starting negotiations. However, he specified that he would only sign a deal with Kyiv’s legitimate authorities, which he considers just to be the Ukrainian parliament. He added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would need to be reelected for Moscow to consider him a legitimate signatory; Zelensky has extended his presidential term, which was due to expire in May, by imposing martial law.
Today’s Most Read
- Iran’s 3 Possible Post-Assad Paths by Ellie Geranmayeh
- The Middle East Is in Chaos. Iran Is Focused on the Veil. by Sina Toossi
- Trump + Biden = 1 Good Syria Policy by Steven A. Cook
What We’re Following
Discussing Syria’s future. U.S. forces killed Islamic State leader Abu Yusif and another operative in Syria during a precision strike on Thursday. According to U.S. Central Command (Centcom) on Friday, ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies formerly controlled the targeted area. “[T]he United States—working with allies and partners in the region—will not allow ISIS to take advantage of the current situation in Syria and reconstitute,” Centcom commander Gen. Michael Kurilla said, referring to Assad’s recent overthrow.
U.S. diplomats traveled to Damascus on Friday for Washington’s first official, in-person meeting with Syria’s de facto leadership, led by the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), in more than a decade. Western countries have begun to open channels of communication with HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa to discuss Syria’s future. The U.S. State Department removed a $10 million bounty on Sharaa on Friday to emphasize this new relationship.
Despite HTS officials vowing to establish representative governance and religious tolerance in Syria, many Western powers remain wary of HTS, as the group used to be an affiliate of al Qaeda. Sharaa has since tried to minimize his former ties with the militant organization by abandoning his nom de guerre, Mohammed al-Jolani.
Also on Friday, United Nations spokesperson Thameen al-Kheetan said the U.N. human rights office will send a team of officers to Syria next week to investigate alleged crimes committed during Assad’s regime. This will be the first such U.N. presence in the country in years.
Cabinet shake-up. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reshuffled his cabinet on Friday, just days after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unexpectedly resigned. The shake-up is Trudeau’s latest effort to combat calls for his dismissal as public discontent mounts over Trump’s sweeping tariff threats and his comments suggesting that Canada should become a U.S. state.
“No matter who is leading the Liberal Party, this government’s time is up,” said Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the opposition New Democratic Party. “We will put forward a clear motion of non-confidence in the next sitting of the House of Commons.” Canada’s next federal elections are scheduled for October 2025.
Among the new ministers, Trudeau named parliamentarian David McGuinty to be the head of public safety and lawmaker Nathaniel Erskine-Smith to oversee housing. On Monday, Trudeau filled Freeland’s seat with then-Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc.
Day of mourning. A knife attack at a Croatian school on Friday killed a 7-year-old student and injured at least eight others, including several children. Authorities said the 19-year-old suspect was believed to be a former student of Precko Elementary School, where the attack occurred, in the capital of Zagreb.
Croatia is “appalled” by the “tragedy,” Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said, adding that the country will hold a day of mourning for the victims on Saturday and cancel some holiday festivities. School attacks are rare in Croatia and the larger Balkan region; however, two mass shootings rocked Serbia last year, the first of which killed at least nine students and a security guard at a school in Belgrade.
What in the World?
An Iranian official announced on Monday that the country was pausing the implementation of a controversial law focused on what?
A. Hijab rules for women
B. Grocery subsidies for the poor
C. Income taxes for federal employees
D. Funding for public universities
Odds and Ends
Residents of Fukushima should start brushing up on the Japanese city’s waste disposal guidelines—or else risk public mockery. Beginning in March, the city government announced on Tuesday that local authorities will start sifting through bags of trash that fail to meet sorting laws or exceed size limits. Those who do not dispose of their rubbish correctly could have their names and businesses publicly disclosed for scrutiny and shaming.
And the Answer Is…
A. Hijab rules for women
Blocking the strict law would be a major victory for reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who promised on the campaign trail to relax hijab requirements, Sina Toossi writes.
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