![A split-screen moment for the Ukraine crisis, with hard and soft power on display](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220219155232-zelensky-putin-0219-split-super-tease.jpg)
A split-screen moment for the Ukraine crisis, with hard and soft power on display
CNN
The Ukraine crisis had a split-screen moment on Saturday, as the Kremlin put on a display of hard power and the Ukrainian president staged a charm offensive.
Russian President Vladimir Putin led headlines first, as he oversaw a major test of the readiness of Russia's nuclear triad: The land-, sea- and air-based components of his strategic deterrent.
In other words, the Kremlin leader got to brandish his nukes. The drills were a classic key-turning exercise: The Russians rehearsed the scenarios for ordering the launch of a nuclear strike, with crews launching intercontinental ballistic missiles, bombers dropping cruise missiles and a submarine firing a ballistic missile.
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The CIA has sent the White House an unclassified email listing all new hires that have been with the agency for two years or less in an effort to comply with an executive order to downsize the federal workforce, according to three sources familiar with the matter – a deeply unorthodox move that could potentially expose the identities of those officers to foreign government hackers.