An Opportunity Ahead: American officials are convinced that the next six weeks, before fall mud spreads, could allow Ukraine’s military to press forward in the Donbas region and potentially retake Kherson.

Putin of Russia declared martial law in four illegally annexed regions of Ukraine as pro-Kremlin authorities in the city of Kherson said they would evacuate tens of thousands of people in advance of a possible Ukrainian counterattack. Occupied Regions : President Vladimir V.But officials in Kyiv and Washington are casting doubt on whether the buildup represents a serious threat. A New Front?: Russia is massing thousands of troops in its western neighbor Belarus, raising fears that Moscow might plan to open another front in the war.A Looming Crisis: Russia’s stepped-up attacks on infrastructure and vital utility networks in Ukraine herald a new phase of the war - one that threatens millions of Ukrainians with the prospect of a winter without electricity, water and heat in half-destroyed buildings.Fleming’s agency - formally called Government Communications Headquarters, the counterpart to the National Security Agency in the United States - plays an increasingly central role in tracking Russian communications and preparing for the day when China’s advances in quantum computing may defeat the kinds of encryption used to protect both government and corporate communications. In light of Russia’s dismal battlefield performance and its brutality, he said, China “needs to be weighing up the advantages and disadvantage of continuing to align themselves strongly with Russia.” Putin of Russia and President Xi Jinping of China employed when they met at the Beijing Olympics early this year, just before the invasion of Ukraine. “I don’t think that this is a ‘relationship without limits,’” he said, using the term that President Vladimir V. In an interview on Monday ahead of his address, the official, Jeremy Fleming, who heads GCHQ - the British electronic intelligence-gathering and cyber agency made famous for its role in breaking the Enigma codes in World War II - also said he was skeptical about how far China would go to support Russia’s aggression. A top British intelligence official will warn in a speech on Tuesday that while Russia’s aggression has created an urgent threat, China’s expanding use of technology to control dissent and its growing ability to attack satellite systems, control digital currencies and track individuals pose far deeper challenges for the West.

War leaders clash of nations codes