President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that an Indian citizen was among 12 people killed in recent Russian aerial bomb and drone strikes on Odesa, Ukraine. Dozens more were injured in the attacks that occurred since Monday evening.
The assault occurred as residents were attending Sunday church services.
A Russian missile struck a warehouse belonging to an Indian pharmaceutical company, Kusum, in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian embassy in India. The embassy alleged that Russia, despite claiming a "special friendship" with India, deliberately targeted Indian businesses in Ukraine. The strike reportedly destroyed medicines intended for children and the elderly. This incident follows a similar attack on a major pharmaceuticals warehouse in Kyiv, which was destroyed by Russian drones, as reported by the UK's ambassador to Ukraine. Kusum Healthcare, the company whose warehouse was hit, has a presence in 29 countries, including Ukraine. This attack comes amidst ongoing tensions in the region as Russia continues its offensive against Ukraine, despite US efforts to push for a ceasefire. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of being the sole obstacle to peace and claimed that Moscow rejected a US-brokered proposal for a ceasefire.
'As result, Netanyahu 'convinced' Trump to go to war with the help of overoptimistic Israeli intelligence assessments, essentially explaining to him that they only need to bomb Iran for 3-4 days, and the regime would then collapse.' 'Rather unsurprisingly, Netanyahu is ever since blaming his own intel service for the entire operation failing.'
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
Mariupol City Council, who shared an image of the destroyed building, said Russian forces had 'purposefully and cynically destroyed the Drama Theater in the heart of Mariupol', CNN reported.
The foremost lesson for India today is to beef up its air defence to cater for multiple drone attacks. As seen in Operation Sindoor, we have come a long way, but there's room for getting better. We must develop a robust and almost impregnable air cover over ourselves, asserts IAF veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
'Large-impact aerial weapons have no use against dictator regimes or terrorist entities,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
The No. 51 Squadron is to be retired by the end of September, "as per the plan", the defence sources said.
'As long as we have such partners, Russia cannot be isolated.'
'There is a very serious terror threat to India in the run-up to Republic Day on January 26 and Beating the Retreat on January 29,' says Rajeev Sharma.
'So a number of people are drawn in along with members of their friends' circle or their relatives.' 'A number of individuals find that they have more in common with the 'imagined community' that they discover online as opposed to their own physical community and indeed, even the majority Muslim community elsewhere.'