For only the second time, Russia used a new ballistic missile that it says flies at 10 times the speed of sound and is unstoppable by air defenses.

Russia fired a hypersonic Oreshnik missile at a target in western Ukraine overnight Thursday, near the border with NATO member Poland, in what has been labeled a brazen “warning” to the wider continent and the United States.

Hello and welcome to Regions Calling by The Moscow Times, a newsletter spotlighting Russia’s regions and ethnic republics. The days between Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7 and Epiphany on Jan. 19 mark the height of Russia’s 12 Days of Christmas celebrations,

In Kyiv, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed the head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov as his new chief of staff Friday, following the resignation of Andrii Yermak after a corruption scandal over a month ago.

Simon Migliano, who compiled the Top10VPN shutdown report, told me “Iran’s current nationwide blackout is a blunt instrument intended to crush dissent, starkly different from the sophisticated, slow-burn digital censorship we’re seeing in Russia.”

Russian missiles struck the heart of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy as people were gathering to celebrate Palm Sunday. At least 34 people were killed in the second large-scale attack in Ukraine to claim civilian lives in just over a week.

Enhe was once home to thousands of ethnic Russians. Under Xi Jinping’s push for ethnic unity, little remains beyond nostalgia and props for tourists.