Monday Briefing: Ukraine can hit Russia with U.S. long-range weapons

November 18, 2024

	By Justin Porter

Good morning. We’re covering President Biden allowing Ukraine to use U.S. long-range missiles in Russia and a child-labor investigation into a dance troop.

Plus, World of Warcraft turned 20.

Emergency personnel inspect a building that has been damaged, standing next to a broken car.

A building in Russian-controlled Ukraine that was damaged in June by ATACMS missiles, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Ukraine can use U.S. long-range weapons against Russia

President Biden will allow Ukraine for the first time to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles for strikes inside Russia, U.S. officials said.

The permission to use the missiles, called Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, came in response to Russia’s decision to bring North Korean troops into the fight, officials said. The weapons are likely to be initially used in defense of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia, the officials said.

Russian forces are set to launch a major assault on dug-in Ukrainian positions there with an estimated 50,000 soldiers, including North Korean troops. The Kremlin’s goal is to retake all of the territory Ukrainians seized during their incursion in August.

If Kyiv’s forces use the ATACMS missiles to strike key Russian and North Korean military targets, they could help the blunt the joint assault. The Ukrainians hope that they would be able to trade any Russian territory they hold in the Kursk region for Ukrainian territory held by Russia in future negotiations.

Context: The decision is a major change in U.S. policy. In two months, President-elect Donald Trump will take office, and he has vowed to limit further support for Ukraine.

In related coverage:

Russia renewed its campaign to destroy Ukraine’s battered power grid.
“Is everybody alive?” In July, a Russian missile hit a maternity clinic in Ukraine and turned life and death into a lottery.

A grid of faces, showing pictures of men and women who have been chosen by Donald Trump for his cabinet, along with blanks representing unfilled positions.

Donald Trump has named more than two dozen cabinet members and major staff positions. The New York Times

Trump continued to shake up Washington

President-elect Donald Trump said he would tap the Colorado gas executive Chris Wright to serve as energy secretary. Wright, who has no government experience, has been a media-friendly evangelist for fossil fuels and has disparaged climate science. Here’s the latest news.

Trump has shown little regard for whether his parade of loyalists, whom he reviews under a chandelier at Mar-a-Lago, can pass Senate confirmation. But his supporters are happy he’s delivering on his promise to disrupt Washington.

Analysis: As my colleague Peter Baker writes, Trump has “rolled a giant grenade into the middle of the nation’s capital and watched with mischievous glee to see who runs away and who throws themselves on it.” Trump has said that “real power” is the ability to engender fear, and he seems to have achieved that.

More on Trump

Trump got a warm welcome from tens of thousands of people at a U.F.C. event at Madison Square Garden.
Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, paid a woman who had accused him of sexual assault as part of a settlement agreement.
“The shackles are off.” Wealthy Trump donors anticipate a more business-friendly atmosphere as well as the firing of Biden-era regulators.
Vice President Kamala Harris spent $1.5 billion in her 15-week presidential campaign. This is where the money went.
Here is a list of Trump nominees.

Chang Chun-Ko, in a flowing dress, stands in front of a mirror.

Chang Chun-Ko, a former Shen Yun dancer who joined the group as a child, worked at least 65 hours a week. The New York Times

U.S. authorities are investigating Shen Yun

The New York State Department of Labor has opened an inquiry into Shen Yun Performing Arts, the global dance group.

The agency hasn’t offered any details about the focus of its inquiry, but is tasked in part with enforcing child labor laws. The investigation began after former Shen Yun performers spoke with The Times about being forced to keep grueling tour schedules and train under abusive conditions.

Background: Shen Yun is operated by the Falun Gong religious movement from a guarded, 400-acre campus northwest of New York City. It offers little or no pay to its underage performers, and has operated this way for years without scrutiny.

MIDDLE EAST

A crowd stands around a concrete building, the entire third floor of which has been destroyed along with part of the second floor.

The aftermath of a deadly Israeli airstrike in the Ras al-Nabaa area of Beirut. Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times

Two waves of Israeli airstrikes hit central Beirut, a rare attack inside the Lebanese capital, as Israel’s military pounds areas outside the city where Hezbollah holds sway.
Israeli airstrikes hit central Gaza and a town in the north of the enclave, killing more than 30 people, according to local rescue and emergency services.
Trump’s Middle East agenda isn’t clear yet, but the window for deal-making has shrunk since the last time he was in office.

More Top News

Diplomacy: President Biden and Xi Jinping, China’s president, met for what could be the last time on Saturday, and both delivered messages aimed at Trump.
India: Ten newborns were killed in a hospital fire in Uttar Pradesh, the latest in a string of similar tragedies.
China: A former student killed eight people and wounded 17 others in a stabbing rampage at a vocational school in the eastern city of Wuxi.
North Korea: Pyongyang is blaring eerie sounds across the border with South Korea that villagers say are making their lives hell.
U.S.: A Times investigation found that, for years, the on-demand economy has been fueled by staffing agencies exploiting migrant workers.
Philippines: Typhoon Man-yi, which made landfall on Saturday night as a Category 5 storm, was later downgraded to a Category 4 and then strengthened again.
Climate: A global fund for climate disasters has taken shape at the U.N. COP29 summit in Azerbaijan.

Sports

U.F.C.: The heavyweight champion Jon Jones protected his title with a dominant win over Stipe Miocic.
Running: Four female runners have been killed in Iten, Kenya, the town where a majority of the country’s runners train. Many there fear gender-based violence.
Premier League: Meet the designer of Manchester United’s kit, which is selling in record numbers.

MORNING READ

About a dozen people standing in front of a monument, 10 of them in a two rows. The monument is about 20 feet high and depicts people holding dead bodies, including one of a child.

Government officials laying a wreath at a memorial to the massacre. Linh Pham for The New York Times

The Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai is infamous for being the site of American war crimes. On the morning of March 16, 1968, U.S. soldiers killed more than 500 women, children and older men. They raped girls, mutilated bodies and burned homes with families still inside. Only one officer was ever convicted in the massacre.

Today, My Lai offers a lesson in resilience, the power of time and letting go of hatred — even if forgetting is impossible.

Lives lived: Bela Karolyi, the gymnastics coach who trained the Olympic champions Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton, has died at 82.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

The illustration portrays a young girl with long fair hair besides a black-and-white cat, walking on its hind legs, through tall grass and scarlet flowers. The sky is blue, bats fly around them.

Tove Jansson

Through a looking glass: Tove Jansson, known for her beloved Moomin characters, also illustrated an edition of Alice in Wonderland that is melancholy, complex and occasionally scary.
What, no lions, tigers or bears?: A man was busted in Peru when he tried to get on a flight with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants under his shirt.
In the hope you are entertained: The marketing team behind “Gladiator II” is planning an astounding ad blast for the film — a commercial that will air on 4,000 channels simultaneously.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

A woman with orange hair sits at a desk looking at a large, curved monitor showing a video game.

Christopher Neundorf/EPA, via Shutterstock

World of Warcraft turned 20

More than just a game, World of Warcraft changed how we talk, love, grieve, spend money and hang out. It invaded homes first as a pre-social-media social network, but pop culture wasn’t far behind: It appeared on “South Park” and got its own Hollywood film. So in honor of a very big birthday for a very big game (seriously, the world of Azeroth is huge), my colleagues pulled together 20 ways that World of Warcraft shook things up.

I’ve somehow never played World of Warcraft, despite playing and covering games for years, but here’s one of my favorites on the list: “Leeeeerooooyyyy Jennnkinsssss!” If you’ve heard the battle cry, you know the meme. One player’s reckless, team-killing dash into the jaws of danger has been referenced on TV and in the House of Representatives.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A cast-iron skillet holds creamy spicy tomato beans and greens. Toasted slices of bread are on a small dish nearby.

Kelly Marshall for The New York Times

Cook: This recipe turns a modest can of beans into a spectacular dinner.

Read: These two novels could almost be diaries.

Travel: If you love to travel but you’re fed up with tourists, Florence is making some changes you’ll like.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. Gaya will be back tomorrow. — Justin

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