America left the building. Ukraine took the wheel

Published July 29, 2026 7:00am ET



On the Caspian Sea, the largest lake on Earth, a war that began in a Ukrainian wheat field met a war that began over an Iranian centrifuge. On Saturday, by Ukrainian and Iranian accounts, Ukrainian drones struck an Iranian cargo ship, named by Tehran as the Anna, and a Russian warship operating alongside it. Iran said one of its sailors was killed and another wounded. Tehran summoned Ukraine’s envoy, condemned the strike as a “hostile and criminal” act, and its ambassador in Moscow said he expected Russia to respond.

Two wars, one drone.

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