In a meticulously planned and flawlessly executed operation, code named “Spiderweb”, Ukraine destroyed or damaged 41 Russian strategic bombers and surveillance aircraft, using 117 killer drones. These killer drones were carried in wooden cabins loaded on trucks to at least four locations deep inside Russian territory. The targets were four Russian air bases stretching from Finland border to Siberia, 4,500 km from the Ukrainian border.
By carrying out this daring and audacious strike, rules of modern warfare have now been re-written and questions hang over the fate of ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Russian air defences and radars were not prepared for such a sudden and low-altitude drone attack. The cheap First Person View (FPV) drone costs only Rs 25,000 ($300) a piece, and they destroyed or damaged Russian strategic bombers and other aircraft worth more than Rs 60,000 crore ($7 billion). Among the Russian aircraft destroyed were Tu-95, Tu-22 and Tu-160 long-range strategic bombers, and A-50 surveillance aircraft.
Soon afterwards, Russian Sukhoi-30 bombers attacked key locations inside Ukraine with missiles and swarms of more than 400 Russian drones were sent to bomb Sumi, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
India’s Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said, the modern warfare has now totally changed with small killer drones replacing costly jet fighters and missiles. He said, with the entry of Artificial Intelligence, future wars may be fought between machines and not human beings, with the help of intelligent and automated kill-chains.
The daring attacks that took place on June 1 in the blink of an eye has set new rules of modern warfare, where technology and brains matter more than the might of weapons.
Russia was confident that no enemy could touch its strategic bombers located several thousand km deep inside its vast territory, in different regions. It was particularly confident about Ukraine, which has a small army and has no capability to reach those air bases. But, at the end of the day, after 18 months of consistent efforts, Ukrainian intelligence did wonders.
This is a highly embarrassing moment for Russian President Vladimir Putin. These drone attacks have changed the definition of modern warfare. US President Donald Trump will be more worried. He had bombastically claimed that he had made both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agree to a ceasefire. His plans have now gone awry. Both the countries have escalated the war again.
In the White House, during the infamous standoff in front of cameras, Trump had bluntly told Zelenskyy in his face, “you have no cards to play”.
Zelenskyy has now showed one of the cards that he had kept hidden with him. He has now changed the game. Ukraine, which appeared to be a meek nation in the face of mighty Russia, can now sit at the negotiation table with its head held high. Ukrainian counterparts can now speak to Russian leaders by looking into their eyes.
India too had used drones to destroy terror bases inside Pakistan in precise and controlled attacks. These terror bases had got air defence cover from Pakistan Air Force, but they were reduced to rubble.
Bangladesh : Is China fishing in troubled waters?
Bangladesh, like Pakistan, is deep in debt and is yearning to sit in the lap of Chinese lenders. The chief adviser of the interim government Mohammed Yunus has appealed to China to grant loans and make investments.
At an investors’ summit in Dhaka with Chinese companies, Yunus said, a huge Chinese investment can become a gamechanger for Bangladesh’s economy. He invited Chinese industrialists to invest in textiles, pharma, fisheries, jute and IT sectors. There are reports that China is going to build the world’s biggest seaport in Bangladesh.
Already, China provides 90 per cent of raw material for Bangladesh’s textile sector. Due to instability and lack of elected government, Bangladesh’s economy is now in doldrums. China is trying to fish in troubled waters and draw Bangladesh into its sphere of influence.
Meanwhile, the caretaker government is trying to finish off former PM Sheikh Hasina’s political existence. A special tribunal began proceedings to try Sheikh Hasina for charges of crimes against humanity filed against her in connection with the mass students’ uprising in which more than 1,500 people were killed and more than 25,000 people were injured last year. Sheikh Hasina had to resign and leave Bangladesh in a hurry. Apart from Hasina, her former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamum have been made accused. The tribunal has directed investigators to produce Hasina and others before the court on June 16.
In another development, Bangladesh Supreme Court has cleared the path for Jamaat-e-Islami to get back its registration as a political party. The interim government has removed ban on Jamaat-e-Islami. While Yunus has promised to hold parliamentary elections by June next year, the mainstream Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by Khaleda Zia, wants elections to be held early, by December this year.
The political scene in Bangladesh is changing at a fast pace and Chinese interference is on the rise. The interim government has started removing the image of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from all currency notes. By removing ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, Yunus’ government is aiming to prop up this Islamic fundamentalist party as a counter to Khaleda Zia’s BNP.
Jamaat-e-Islami wants Bangladesh to become a conservative Islamic Republic. If that happens, it can cause concerns for India. Bangladesh seems to be heading towards a future that the world has already seen in Pakistan.