#Ukraine

A group of men draped in blue and yellow flags steps off the bus into a crowd. “Welcome back! Thank you, guys!” echoes from all sides. Moments later, a woman runs in to embrace one of them. This is one of the places Ukraine’s former prisoners of war are brought after exchanges, with more defenders returning from Russian captivity on June 19.

While Russia reels from the largest loss of strategic bombers in modern warfare, caused by the Ukrainian operation Spider Web, the United States is accelerating the complete overhaul of its air-based nuclear deterrent, positioning itself as the world’s unmatched aerial strike power.