Here’s a shocking feature of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine you may not know about: Russian soldiers bribe their officers to stay alive. Our story, based on interviews with Russian troops, describes a “vast battlefield economy” where everything has a price: “drones, medals, home leave and life itself”.

Turning to another war, some backers of Donald Trump’s assault on Iran had hoped that it would also shock and awe China. Our leader explains how wrong that was, and how China plans to profit from America’s misguided military adventure.

For more on that topic watch the discussion among our senior editors on The Insider.