Putin's Geran Drones OBLITERATE Ukraine Army's Antenna Tower; UNESCO Cathedral Also Hit
TOI.in
/ Jun 12, 2025, 06:17AM IST
Russia launched a devastating drone attack near Novgorod-Seversky, striking a Ukrainian antenna tower with a Geran-2 drone and triggering a massive fireball. The assault is part of a broader wave of Russian airstrikes, including a deadly barrage in Kharkiv that killed three people and an overnight precision strike on Kyiv. The blast damaged the historic Saint Sophia Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike as 'catastrophic,' accusing Russia of deploying 'Shaheds.' Watch
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India Today
30 minutes ago
- India Today
Trump floats regime change as Iran fires dozens of missiles on Israel
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India Today
31 minutes ago
- India Today
News Menu, June 23: Iran threatens Strait of Hormuz closure, rain alert for Delhi
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Time of India
31 minutes ago
- Time of India
Fordoward Thinking
Iran may still negotiate with US, taking a long view, while skirmishing with Israel. Even if its nuclear infra is damaged, its knowhow isn't. But if the conflict spreads, welfare of 9mn Indians in the region will be New Delhi's first concern For two decades every United States administration said it might someday bomb Iran's enrichment plants. On Saturday night that 'someday' arrived. B-2 stealth bombers dropped 30,000-pound 'bunker buster' bombs while submarines and aircraft launched Tomahawks at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, the three most consequential nodes in Iran's IAEA monitored nuclear network. Trump declared that 'Fordow is gone', and that Tehran must 'agree to end this war'. The flourish was vintage Trump – muscular and headline grabbing. But behind the applause lines lies a strategic gamble whose downsides may echo far beyond Qom. Trump crossed a threshold earlier presidents tiptoed around, turning an Israel-Iran slugfest into a US-Iran confrontation. He insists the raid was a 'one-off', intended to cripple enrichment. Although neither US nor Israel has produced evidence that Iran was on the brink of building a bomb, the Pentagon's quick look report claims the strikes set the programme back by years at minimal cost. Physics, however, counsels humility. Centrifuges are hardware while enrichment expertise is software lodged in scientists' heads. Bombs can destroy cylinders but not knowledge. Hardliners in Tehran will now argue that only a nuclear weapon can deter the next bunker buster. Did the raid delay a bomb or make it inevitable? Iran accused US of a grave violation of the UN Charter, NPT and international law and vowed that it will not go unanswered. The easiest escalation is to menace the Strait of Hormuz through which about a fifth of global oil passes every day. Next may come missile salvos on Gulf energy infra or on US installations, and then the possible activation of proxies from Lebanon to Yemen. With Iran's parliament reportedly approving the closure of the strait, Brent could easily move past $100 a barrel. Oxford Economics projects $130 if flows are disrupted, a level that would push world inflation back toward 6%. Traders are already paying a war premium in afterhours quotes. Jerusalem meanwhile is jubilant. Netanyahu called the strike a bold decision. Strategically Israel has shifted part of the fight and the risk to Washington. If Iran retaliates, Americans rather than Israelis will calibrate the counterpunch. That is deterrence by entanglement in the short run. Over time it hands Iran a larger menu of US targets and risks dragging America into a war it does not want. Russia immediately cited the bombing as proof of US recklessness while Beijing called it a serious violation of international norms. Any condemning move at the Security Council will face a US veto. However, in the General Assembly the Global South is expected to side with Iran in significant numbers. For India the strike lands like a thunderclap at a cricket match. New Delhi has tried to balance a growing partnership with Washington, deep defence ties with Israel and consequential arrangements with Tehran, from the Chabahar port to International North-South Transit Corridor and once-robust crude imports. That balancing act has lately been criticised by the main opposition party. ● The immediate anxiety is economic. The Gulf supplies 54% of India's oil, generates about 40% of its remittances and accounts for more than $170bn in two-way trade. India imports more than 80% of its crude; every ten dollar rise in Brent adds about one billion dollars a month to the import bill and pressures the rupee. Consumer inflation just slipped below 5%; a Hormuz scare could undo that gain and complicate RBI's plan to cut rates. GOI is already moving to secure supplies, eyeing the strategic petroleum reserve and talking to several producers to ensure continuity. ● A second priority is the safety of nearly nine million Indians working in the region. Evacuation from Iran and Israel is underway. Operation Sankalp ships in the region can be helpful, if required. Diplomatically India has open channels with Washington, Tehran and Jerusalem, but leverage is thin while missiles fly. Still New Delhi may be able to offer discreet messages that help each side edge away from the brink, just like back-channel efforts by Qatar and Muscat. Meanwhile others such as Saudi Arabia and UAE are actively counselling restraint. The key actors need face-saving options. That also means Washington spelling out what de-escalation looks like. Would it accept enrichment capped below weapons grade? Does it envisage returning to the JCPOA framework with phased sanctions relief? Absent clarity Tehran will read 'time for peace' as code for surrender. In US, supporters have praised decisive action; critics have warned that the President had bypassed Congress and demanded a War Powers vote. Trump's boast that the mission was historic and limited is politically smart yet strategically ambiguous. If Iran swallows the blow and returns to talks the White House can claim victory. If Tehran retaliates Washington can strike again and say it had no choice. Either way the attack chips away at the nonproliferation regime and bets that humiliation will not ignite a wider war. The US entry into another West Asian conflict recalls 1991 and 2003, but this round involves nuclear facilities, peer power pushback and an energy hungry Global South. Fordow's tunnels may indeed be rubble, yet geopolitics rarely collapses neatly. US strikes may be tactically brilliant. Strategically they kick a radioactive can down a much steeper road. That road needs to be kept from becoming a cratered battlefield. The test is whether diplomacy can move faster than the bunker busters. The writer is former permanent representative of India to UN and served as an international civil servant at IAEA Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
