Escalation and Diplomacy: The Shifting Dynamics of the Ukraine Conflict Amid Leadership Changes
The revised doctrine lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. Russia further retaliated with the test-launch of a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile, Oreshnik, hitting a defence industry production facility in Dnipro. This marked the first time Russia had used medium-range ballistic missiles in combat, opening a new chapter in the conflict and bringing it closer to the brink of nuclear escalation.