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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.***RussiaAfter a relative lull of several weeks, Russia has begun a renewed ground offensive in eastern Ukraine. As part of this operation, Russian forces have made limited advances but have not accomplished any breakthroughs. The Institute for the Study of War assesses that, at the current rate of progress, it would take Russia almost four years to complete the occupation of the four Ukrainian regions that it claims to have annexed. In the past week, Russia has conducted some of the largest missile and drone strikes against Ukraine of the war so far. These strikes have largely damaged civilian infrastructure and resulted in civilian casualties. They appear to be part of a continuing Russian effort to sap their adversary’s morale and reduce Ukraine’s will to fight.While these efforts have not had any appreciable effect in achieving that particular goal, they have led to frustration among U.S. officials hoping to achieve a ceasefire. While U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had what Trump described as an “excellent” phone call on May 19, Trump has more recently spoken about his unhappiness with Russia’s continued missile attacks on Ukraine. He suggested that Putin had “gone absolutely CRAZY” and mused about increasing sanctions on Russia if it does not change course. So far, these comments have not resulted in any shifts in U.S. policy, but they have emboldened Republican supporters of Ukraine in the Senate to push forward efforts to increase sanctions on Russia.Ukrainian emergency personnel respond to recent Russian drone attacks in Kyiv Oblast. Image: State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Wikimedia Commons.ChinaThe second half of May has been relatively quiet for Chinese domestic and