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Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we’ll provide you with expert analysis on America’s greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and jihadists. Read more below.***RussiaRussian long-range missile strikes on Ukrainian territory have accelerated over the last two weeks, with repeated attacks each involving more than 500 drones and several dozen missiles. These attacks have wiped out more than half of Ukraine’s domestic natural gas production and caused widespread electricity outages throughout the country. Ukraine has responded by increasing its long-range drone attacks against Russian oil refineries and petrochemical plants, hoping to use the attacks to both damage Russia’s industrial base and limit its ability to gain revenues from exporting petroleum products abroad.The United States is considering supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine as a means of cost-imposition if Russia continues to refuse to take steps to end the war. Russian leaders have in recent days issued increasingly strident warnings about the consequences of such an action. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued that the use of such missiles would require the involvement of U.S. specialists and this level of U.S. involvement in Ukrainian attacks against Russian territory would represent a serious escalation. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, highlighted that these missiles are dual-use and therefore their presence in Ukraine would increase the nuclear threat to Russia.On Oct. 16, U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Trump later said that they had agreed to meet in Hungary later this year. Trump is meeting today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the issue of providing Tomahawks to Ukraine is a key agenda item for the meeting.Ukrainian firefighters extinguish fires in the Poltava region caused by Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on Oct. 16, 2025. Image: ArmyInformChinaOn Oct. 9, China announced