Roving Periscope: How their ‘baby wars’ have trapped Russia in Ukraine and the US in Iran?
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: They had not bargained for it.
When the USA, jointly with Israel, launched a war against Iran on February 28, 2026, it made the same mistake as Russia did in Ukraine on February 24, 2022: the ageing superpowers were self-assured that these ongoing ‘mini-conflicts’ would be a cakewalk for them and they would return home with accolades in a few days.
This has not happened. The US is now trapped in the cobwebs of Iran and Lebanon, where Israel refuses to stop its war against Iran’s proxy Hezbollah. Despite multiple ‘ceasefires’ and ‘peace talks,’ Washington finds itself sinking in Iranian quicksand. Launching, relaunching, and re-relaunching fresh attacks ad nauseam.
Likewise, Russia’s dream of bringing Ukraine to its knees in two or three days has remained just that: a pipe dream. Its inconclusive war with highs and lows is now a good 1,586 days old, and ongoing.
Even Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said Moscow is going through a “difficult period” but insisted that his country would overcome every challenge as Ukraine stepped up retaliatory strikes deep inside Russian territory, the media reported on Monday.
Speaking at the congress of the ruling United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for September 2026, he acknowledged the hardships facing the country but said they had made Russia stronger.
“We are going through a difficult period, but it has taught us much,” he said, according to Russian state news agency TASS, while wishing his party success in the upcoming polls in September 2026.
Both US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have, time and again, assured each other help in ending their respective wars. The US is also slated for midterm congressional elections in November 2026. But they do not know how to end wars without loss of face and faith.
The Russian leader also vowed to strengthen national security despite the growing number of Ukrainian attacks. “Yes, we see the problems, we are aware of them and are responding to them, but we will certainly ensure the security of both the country and our citizens, as well as the inviolability of Russia’s borders,” Putin said.
“We will undoubtedly overcome all the challenges facing us today, including terrorist attacks on our territory and infrastructure facilities,” he added.
Putin’s remarks came as Ukraine claimed responsibility for fresh drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.
A Ukrainian drone attack reportedly killed one person in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region and sparked a fire at an oil refinery, according to regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes were aimed at weakening Russia’s ability to continue the war.
In a post on X, he said Ukrainian forces had struck the Slavyansk oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, around 300 km from the frontline, as well as another refinery in the Yaroslavl region, about 700 km from Ukraine’s border.
The latest attacks follow another Ukrainian strike last week that caused a major fire at a refinery southeast of Moscow, sending thick black smoke into the capital’s suburbs.
The Russian-annexed Crimea declared a state of emergency on Friday as Ukrainian aerial attacks continued to disrupt fuel supplies and electricity infrastructure. The peninsula has been facing fuel shortages and power cuts linked to repeated strikes on logistics routes and oil facilities across Crimea, southern Russia and other Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine.
