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The LOWDOWN - 13 June 2026 - Military Force as Cognitive and Economic Leverage

187th Fighter Wing

June 13, 2026 | 17:29

Between June 10 and 12, 2026, the United States conducted strikes on approximately 20 military targets in southern Iran in response to the June 8 downing of a US helicopter, leading Iran to declare the Strait of Hormuz closed and launch retaliatory drone and missile attacks against US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. In Ukraine, Russian forces achieved tactical gains in Kostyantynivka, their primary offensive objective, while Ukrainian forces executed long-range strikes against Russian oil infrastructure and military plants, including the VNIIR-Progress navigation factory and the Kuibyshevsky Oil Refinery. Ukrainian interdiction of bridges connecting Kherson to Crimea has resulted in gasoline shortages in occupied Sevastopol, and the Ukrainian government warned of a high probability of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile strike within 48 hours. In East Asia, CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping visited North Korea to signal support for its nuclear program and "sovereignty," while the PRC conducted a maritime law enforcement operation east of Taiwan to contest Japanese-Philippine maritime boundary talks. Concurrently, the Philippines reported a manned Chinese structure at Scarborough Shoal, and Taiwan's legislature faced setbacks in securing $17.5 billion in funding for its domestic drone industry.