Moscow's international airports were temporarily closed due to safety concerns after air defense forces intercepted multiple Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine's capital Kyiv came under a large-scale missile and drone attack overnight on December 27, with multiple explosions reported across the city and surrounding regions, one day ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as diplomatic efforts continue to end the four-year-long war.
Only 75 aircraft were deployed to support the invasion, observes Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
In the Indo-Pacific's new era -- where perception shapes reality faster than treaties -- the real entrapment is not of China or the United States. It is the test Japan has set for itself -- and whether partners like India, acting as balancers rather than accelerants, can help ensure that the story ends in stability, points out Varun Arya.
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.
When missiles fly in this region, they are never just aimed at military targets.
In an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Saturday, Putin said that such a move by Trump would "lead to the destruction of our relations. At least the positive tendencies that have appeared in these relations."
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.
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
Military officials released new video on Monday of a close encounter between a Russian fighter jet and a US Air Force F-16 interceptor near Alaska, Associated Press has reported.
Luckily for us, a Russia that is desperate to stay relevant in an emerging multipolar world finds in India a reliable geostrategic partner. The Russian proximity to India also keeps China from exploiting its economic dominance vis a vis Russia, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Trump had done a deal with the current regime minus Maduro. The current regime is giving Trump entry into Venezuelan oil. They are obeying him and doing whatever he says.' 'They are happy because they have saved their heads by sacrificing only two, Maduro and his wife. Thousands of Venezuelan military leaders would have been jailed or killed in American action had Maduro stayed in power.'
According to the DRDO chairman, the BrahMos missile, primarily launched from Sukhoi Mk 1, was used during the offensive phase.
Zelenskyy further said that the assault occurred overnight and into the morning, and involved a barrage of approximately 120 missiles and 90 drones, including Shaheds, Zircons, Iskanders, and Kinzhals.
When the technology gap between China and India will remain large, cost-effective hardware of the kind that proved their worth in Operation Sindoor should be our priority, points out R Jagannathan.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala has raised concerns about the Indian government's decision to potentially acquire F-35 fighter jets from the US, questioning whether the decision was made in the national interest and if security experts were consulted. He highlighted the high cost of the F-35, its operational flaws, and the potential impact on the Indian Air Force's existing fleet and maintenance infrastructure. Surjewala's comments come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump unveiled plans for a 10-year defense partnership between India and the US, including potential F-35 sales.
Will Russia's entry deter Trump on his warpath?, asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"The video shows a strike on a reconnaissance and sabotage unit of the Ukrainian armed formations, carrying out reconnaissance and search operations on four US-made all-terrain military vehicles. After the strike with precision missile weaponry, the group was destroyed," the defence ministry said.
There has been a considerable drop in India's dependence on arms and equipment from Russia but the Indian military cannot operate effectively without Russian-supplied equipment and will continue to rely on its weapons systems in the near and middle terms, a Congressional Research Service report has said.
We need to equip the Indian Armed Forces, not 'commercial' as Trump wants, but 'operationally' looking at growing Chinese military capabilities, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
On March 14, a Russian Su-27 jet collided with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea.
'This strike has certainly enhanced your image.' 'Otherwise, people would have called you a damp squib, capable of doing nothing except talking big.'
The first group of Russian aircraft has left the Hmeimim air base in Syria for their home base in Russia, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday.
Trump has a major decision to take in coming days -- specifically, how to rescue Israel from the attritional war that lies ahead, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The supply of spares formed the thrust of discussions held with top Indian officials.
He informed that special units of the armed forces are inside Kherson and other Ukrainian troops were also approaching the city from the outskirts.
Ukrainian officials said Russian forces struck near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, without providing extensive details.
The defence secretary was responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson, a friend of India in the Congress who, of late, has been critical of India deciding to take an independent position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The current instability in the world is a result of long term systemic and socio-politico problems, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Pope Francis on Sunday condemned the "massacre" in Ukraine and said the "unacceptable armed aggression" must stop.
Russia said on Monday that the Vostok 2022 military exercises will be held from September 1 to 7 in different locations in the Far East and the Sea of Japan and involve more than 50,000 troops from China, India and several other countries.
The United States on Friday said that it is not ruling out technical assistance from Russian personnel in operating the surface-to air missile that downed the Malaysia Airlines plane.
As Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi, United States President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met at the Kantei palace in Tokyo on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, to give the Quad a boost, Chinese and Russian warplanes on Tuesday conducted joint air patrols over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the West Pacific Ocean.
CAATSA was aimed at Moscow and not intended to damage the military capabilities of its 'allies and partners', US said.
Two powerful US Senators have urged President Joe Biden not to impose provisions of the punitive Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act against India for buying the S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia.
It is going to be a long-term proposition for India -- which has a decades-old relationship with Moscow -- to reorient its foreign policy away from Russia, the US has said, insisting that re-aligning one's approach is not like flipping a light switch.
Putin warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to 'consequences'.
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