Putin may try again

Russia launched over 60 missiles at Ukraine in its first large-scale attack since Dec. 5, causing cuts to power and water supplies in several areas. A strike on a residential building killed two people in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s home town. The attacks come a day after a top Ukrainian army commander warned there’s “no doubt” Russia will again attempt to seize Kyiv, perhaps from Belarus, having failed in a botched attempt early in the war. As Russia has been driven back in recent months, Vladimir Putin has drafted hundreds of thousands of raw recruits to face experienced and battle-hardened Ukrainian forces. Putin will visit Minsk on Monday for talks with his Belarusian ally.

Friday’s missile barrage was the ninth by Russia since early October, all focused primarily on Ukraine’s infrastructure in a bid to force civilians to endure winter without heat, power or water. Russia has killed potentially tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers over the past 10 months. But any attempt by Russia to move on Kyiv would likely occur amid a storm of increasingly sophisticated munitions. US President Joe Biden says he will keep supplying Ukraine the weapons it needs to fight Russia for “as long as it takes.” This appears to include Patriot missiles, America’s most advanced defensive system, a prospect that caused Russia to threaten unspecified retaliation. —David E. Rovella

Beijing’s rapidly spreading Covid outbreak has turned the Chinese capital of 22 million people into a virtual ghost town as stores close and restaurants empty, underscoring the cost of Xi Jinping’s sudden pivot from his restrictive “Covid zero” policy. Bucking expectations for a managed and gradual transition, Xi is now allowing the virus to run rampant. A million people could die as a result.

Goldman Sachs may fire 8% of its employees—some 4,000 people—joining other Wall Street firms in terminating workers en masse in contemplation of a downturn some economists (and the Fed) say may not happen. Top Goldman managers are said to have been asked to identify potential targets for dismissal. The number of employees surged in recent years as CEO David Solomon completed acquisitions. Then there’s the firm’s star-crossed attempt at consumer banking, which left the unit with deep losses. But elsewhere on Wall Street, everything is coming up roses. Big name quant firms like AQR Capital, Man Group and Aspect Capital are riding high as inflation-fueled turmoil trashes their counterparts in the stock and bond world. Macro-driven volatility is fueling powerful one-way price trends.

The Federal Reserve’s updated economic projections appeared to incorporate an assumption that raised eyebrows: inflation would prove resurgent this month. The quarterly projections showed Fed officials now expect so-called core inflation—which excludes food and energy—to end this year around 4.8%, up from the 4.5% figure they forecast in September. Yet that number looks too high to Wall Street economists.

Mazars Group is backing away from crypto. The accounting firm used by crypto giant Binance Holdings and others to vouch for assets held in reserve has halted all such work for crypto clients. It’s yet another blow to an industry seeking to shore up confidence in the wake of FTX’s collapse.

Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone paved the way for private equity firms to pitch the everyday millionaire. Now, a flight of money from some of the industry’s retail funds is inviting scrutiny by federal regulators. The $68 billion Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust has been grappling with an increase in investors pulling money, particularly from Asia. Rival Starwood Real Estate Income Trust has also seen an uptick in withdrawal requests. In recent weeks, both real estate trusts limited redemptions—moves that piqued the interest of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Peru imposed curfew orders in parts of the country to try to contain demonstrations as clashes between protesters and police left seven people dead and more than 50 injured. The latest fatalities mean the overall death toll from a week of protests over Pedro Castillo’s sudden removal from power doubled overnight to at least 14. Dina Boluarte, who was Castillo’s running mate and was sworn-in as president on Dec. 7, has failed to quell the anger despite a proposal to hold early elections.

Elon Musk’s behavior at Twitter is getting him in trouble with European officials. Backlash against the mercurial billionaire’s decision to suspend the Twitter accounts of journalists (as well as upstart Twitter rival Mastodon), who have been covering his antics has spread among senior European politicians, with threats of future sanctions. “News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying,” said Commission Vice President Vera Jourova in a tweet. “There are red lines. And sanctions, soon.”

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US coal companies are required by law to clean up their old mines, but a common practice of transferring those mines to smaller operators has left many polluted sites unreclaimed throughout coal country. In this episode of Bloomberg Storylines, we travel to the nation’s coal belt, revealing the wreckage left by mining across wide swaths of land, and the damage done to those who live nearby. We also meet one man on a crusade to make those coal companies clean up their mess and never come back.

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