Ukraine dents Putin’s strongman image

Ukraine incursion damages Putin's strongman image [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. What’s striking about Ukraine’s intervention into Russia is how little Vladimir Putin is doing about it. The president has largely avoided comment on the surprise incursion in the Kursk region that directly challenges his authority as the guarantor of Russia’s security. Instead, the Kremlin is acting as if nothing much has happened. Putin visited Azerbaijan and Russia’s southern Caucasus this week as thousands of residents were fleeing the fighting. Ukraine’s gamble is paying off so far. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it showed his US and European allies were too concerned about “illusory” Kremlin red lines and threats of escalation, and [should lift restrictions]( on using long-range weapons against Russia. That message was apparently reinforced overnight when Moscow’s air defenses downed 10 drones, the [largest attack on the Russian capital]( since the full-scale war began in early 2022. The sight of their troops sweeping into Russia undoubtedly boosted Ukrainians’ morale. They’ve had little to celebrate this year as Russian forces continue to grind out advances in eastern Ukraine. Zelenskiy’s military now faces the challenge of holding on to its gains in Russia, while reinforcing stretched defenses. With [supplies of promised weaponry lagging]( the risk is that it’s forced into painful choices that may weaken it in the long term. Putin’s in a new world too. The Ukrainian incursion dented his domestic image as a strongman ruler and brought the war he started closer to ordinary Russians. That doesn’t mean he’ll be suing for peace any time soon — indeed, Russia may intensify attacks to punish Ukrainians further. But Kyiv has upended the narrative of this war again, encouraging its allies and sapping Russian belief in an inevitable victory. While it’s too soon to tell if Kursk will be a turning point, Ukraine demonstrated that it still has the will and ability to take the fight to Putin.— [Anthony Halpin]( WATCH: Russia’s state-run RU-RTR shows video of what it says is the aftermath of Ukrainian strikes in the Belgorod region, close to the border. Global Must Reads Barack and Michelle Obama blasted Republican nominee Donald Trump and portrayed Vice President Kamala Harris as the heir of their political legacy in addresses on the second night of the Democratic National Convention. The former president and his wife are trying to help assemble a [broad coalition of progressives]( and moderates to deliver victory as it did for Obama in 2008. WATCH: “My girl Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment,” former First Lady Michelle Obama tells the convention. Antony Blinken left the Middle East after failing to secure a deal to halt fighting between Hamas and Israel, as the two sides remain sharply divided despite US officials’ insistence that an agreement is close. It was the US Secretary of State’s ninth trip to the region since the conflict began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and the [result was just the same]( Israel and Hamas unable to set aside their disagreements to stop the war. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government pledged to increase deportations of people with no legal right to stay in the UK to the highest rate in five years, as it tries to show it’s responding to Britons’ [concerns about rising immigration](. The Home Office said it will recruit as many as 100 intelligence officers at the National Crime Agency to help dismantle groups operating small-boat crossings by asylum seekers across the English Channel. Officials fighting a lethal outbreak of mpox in central Africa are struggling to avoid mistakes that cost lives during the Covid-19 pandemic, starting with the [slow acquisition of vaccines](. Since the World Health Organization called the spread of the disease a global emergency, there has been constant talk around getting the inoculations to Africa. These are now expected to arrive next week. Thailand’s “lese majeste” law makes it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the nation’s royal family and has always been controversial for its alleged misuse by the conservative establishment. Reformist party Move Forward broke a taboo by publicly calling for changes and paid the price on Aug. 7 when it was dissolved and its leader banned from public office for a decade. Read [this explainer]( on how the insult law remains a fault line in Thai politics. Trump cast himself as a purveyor of “common sense” during a trip to Michigan, as he looked to counter a central theme of the Democrats’ convention in Chicago: that he and running mate JD Vance [are “weird” extremists](. South Korean prosecutors are set to clear the wife of President Yoon Suk Yeol of any criminal charge over her [receiving a Dior bag]( worth 3 million won ($2,250) under questionable circumstances. The Philippines said a former mayor embroiled in [alleged money laundering]( through China-centric online casinos has left the country, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed to hold accountable those behind her exit. Ghana has ditched plans to borrow from international banks to fund its cocoa crop in the next season, [breaking a 32-year-old tradition]( that has built its farms and economy. Washington Dispatch Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, an outspoken Republican polemicist, yesterday easily defeated a primary challenger supported by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, [whose ouster late last year]( was set in motion by Gaetz. Gaetz sought to cast his opponent, ex-Navy aviator Aaron Dimmock, as hand picked by McCarthy to run a revenge campaign. Dimmock denied direct ties to McCarthy or to a political action committee that produced scathing anti-Gaetz ads this summer. In a victory speech clip on X, Gaetz, wearing shorts and sneakers, barely mentioned Dimmock and ridiculed McCarthy. Gaetz, left, and McCarthy. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Other Republicans involved in McCarthy’s downfall also survived primary challenges this year. Representative Bob Good of Virginia, the chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, proved to be the exception. He lost a close race to John McGuire, a state senator who had been endorsed by Trump. While Good, like McGuire, presented himself as an ardent Trump supporter during the primary, he had thrown his support to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis early in the election season. One person to watch today: Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz will deliver his acceptance speech in Chicago. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day The future of Southeast Asia’s booming photovoltaic industry, which produces the most solar panels after China, is being thrown into doubt as Washington looks set [to impose hefty tariffs on the region](. Chinese firms that set up factories there over the past decade are now being accused of skirting US import levies on their home market. At least three companies have scaled back operations in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, which, along with Cambodia, are being targeted by the US. And Finally Maritime ports have evolved over centuries from trading posts and naval bases into economies within economies that supercharged globalization. In the process, they’ve become vital junctions for energy flows, hubs for infrastructure like rail lines and power stations, and clusters for industrial production, warehousing and distribution. That’s made them [geopolitical assets in the great-power struggles]( of a multipolar world, responsible for handling 80% of the world’s $25 trillion in annual merchandise trade⁠. Somaliland security personnel at Berbera Port. 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