As the hypersonic penetrators broke through the cloud layers, each was enveloped in a luminous plasma sheath, producing brief but violent flashes that momentarily illuminated the surrounding atmosphere. These flashes were not explosions in the conventional sense, but visual signatures of extreme velocity, friction, and compression as the warheads tore through dense air at hypersonic speed.
PATRICK LAWRENCE: All Unquiet on the Ukrainian Front
The Europeans have run out of postures and gestures in the way of performative statecraft, and the Russians see no point in indulging them any further.