New Delhi, Jun 02: At least nine people were killed and dozens injured after Russia launched a massive overnight missile and drone attack on several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Dnipro, according to a BBC report.

The BBC reported that four people were killed and at least 51 injured in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where two high-rise residential buildings were hit. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said there were fears that more people could be trapped under the rubble. Thirty-five of the injured were hospitalised. In the southeastern city of Dnipro, five people were killed and 25 others injured in the strikes, the report said.

Air raid alerts were issued across most of Ukraine as Russian forces reportedly used ballistic missiles and drones in the attack. Fires broke out near residential buildings, a gas station and a construction site, while blackouts were reported in parts of Kyiv. An industrial facility in Zaporizhzhia was also hit, according to the BBC.

The latest assault came days after Moscow warned it would carry out “systematic strikes” on Ukraine in response to a drone attack in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region last month that reportedly killed 21 people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier warned of a possible large-scale Russian strike and urged citizens to heed air raid alerts. Russia had also recently threatened to target military and decision-making centres in Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Russian authorities said a drone attack caused a fire at the Ilsky Oil Refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, though no casualties were reported, the BBC said. The attack marks one of the latest escalations in the ongoing conflict, with both sides continuing long-range strikes following the collapse of a brief ceasefire in May.

United Nations, Jun 02: Over 550 Indian peacekeepers, including 53 women, serving with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) were honoured for their dedication and commitment to protecting civilians and supporting peacebuilding efforts in the conflict-affected country.

A total of 565 Indian Blue Helmets and 464 Rwandan peacekeepers received the UN Medal of Honour at a ceremony in South Sudan’s Malakal city, UNMISS said on Monday.

There were 53 women among the 565 Indian Blue Helmets, it said.

Blue Helmets refers to military personnel, police officers, and civilian experts serving under the operational command of the United Nations peacekeeping forces.

The peacekeepers were recognised for their efforts in “protecting civilians through patrols, community engagement, veterinary camps, women’s self-defence training, combating gender violence, and improving humanitarian access”, the UN body said.

UN Mission in South Sudan Force Commander Major-General Junhui Wu said every medal awarded celebrates the “courage and resilience of our brave peacekeepers, who demonstrate the highest standards of discipline, operational effectiveness, and teamwork in a challenging environment”.

Reacting to the honour, the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations congratulated the Indian contingent.

“Indian Blue Helmets have consistently upheld the highest standards of professionalism in all their spheres of operation,” the mission said in a social media post.

India is the second largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN peacekeeping operations, after Nepal.

It currently contributes more than 4,200 military and police personnel, including 155 women, across missions in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, Congo, Lebanon, the Middle East, Somalia, South Sudan and Western Sahara.

Nearly 180 Indian peacekeepers have lost their lives in the line of duty, the highest number among troop-contributing countries.

Last week, on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, Lance Havildar Harbhajan Singh, who served with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), and Naib Subedar Sujit Kumar Pradhan, who served with UNMISS, were posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjold Medal for their sacrifice in the line of duty.

The Dag Hammarskjold Medal is the highest official honour awarded by the United Nations. It is given posthumously to military, police, and civilian personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in UN peacekeeping operations

In another recognition for India, Major Abhilasha Barak was named the recipient of the 2025 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.

Serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Barak was honoured for her outreach work with women and girls during her deployment in the West Asian nation.

Barak is serving with the Indian Battalion as Commander of the Female Engagement Team in UNIFIL and is also the first woman combat helicopter pilot in the Indian Army.

Washington, Jun 02: US President Donald Trump said he persuaded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off the strike on Beirut, following which the Israeli leader “turned his troops around”.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social on Monday evening amid reports that the conversation between the two leaders was “heated” and the US president telling Netanyahu that he would have been in prison but for his intervention.

“I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today (Monday), asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi,” he said, referring to the Israeli prime minister by his widely used nickname.

Trump’s phone calls with Netanyahu came after Iran threatened to end the negotiations with the US over Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. Netanyahu had said Israel would hit “terror targets” in Beirut if Hezbollah did not stop attacking Israel.

The president said he also had a conversation with the representatives of the leaders of Hezbollah, who agreed to “stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers”.

“I also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY,” he said.

US media outlet Axios reported that tempers flew during Trump’s phone call with Netanyahu.

“You’re f•••ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your a••. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this,” Axios reported, quoting an unnamed US official.

A second source told Axios that Trump was “pissed” and at one point yelled at Netanyahu: “What the f••• are you doing?” Another official told the outlet Trump had “steamrolled” Netanyahu during the call.

“Bibi said, ‘OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of’,” according to the official.

Earlier, Trump told NBC News that he had not been informed of the decision to suspend negotiations ahead of time, but “it’s fine if they’re done talking”.

“It’s an appropriate thing to say, because they’re better negotiators than they are fighters,” he said in a brief phone call with NBC News.

“But they haven’t informed us of that. It doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there,” Trump said.

The US military and Iran exchanged strikes over the weekend and into Monday, threatening the nearly two-month-old truce agreed to by the warring sides.

Despite the truce, Israel has been pressing ahead with a military offensive in Lebanon, with its forces marking their deepest incursion into the country in 26 years over the weekend.

Jerusalem, Jun 02: Tens of thousands of ultra-orthodox demonstrated across Israel on Monday, blocking roads and trains and setting cars on fire to protest mandatory enlistment in Israel’s military.

Israel’s police said demonstrators blocked major intersections and attacked a soldier who disembarked from a bus near a protest. Police struggled to control the crowds with water cannons and horses.

The protest largely crippled the country’s center, with highways closed and public transportation halted by the massive crowds in both Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv metro area.

Military service is compulsory for most Jewish men and women in Israel. The politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties have won exemptions for their followers to forgo military service and instead study in religious seminaries, but those exemptions are under threat.

Many Israelis are tired of the longstanding system that has allowed ultra-Orthodox men to skip military service at a time when the military is stretched to its breaking point and many have served multiple tours of reserve duty. The issue is tearing apart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, possibly moving elections up by several weeks this fall after the ultra-Orthodox parties withdrew their support for Netanyahu.

Each year, roughly 13,000 ultra-Orthodox men reach the conscription age of 18, but less than 10 per cent enlist, according to a parliamentary committee.

Faced with severe shortages of soldiers, the military is looking to extend the period of mandatory service. Most Jewish men are required to serve nearly three years of military service, followed by years of reserve duty. Jewish women serve two mandatory years.

“This public is determined, they see this as a war for their lives,” said Israel Tropper, a demonstrator in Jerusalem. “From their perspective, going into the Israeli army means giving up religion … we don’t want to give up our religion, so from our perspective it’s a war for our lives.” He added that there is no way to force tens of thousands of people vehemently opposed to the idea to serve in the military.

Some protesters held signs condemning Israel saying “We would rather die as Jews than live as Zionists” and “We refuse to serve an army for the sake of the Zionist religion.”

The ultra-Orthodox, who make up roughly 13 per cent of Israeli society and are the fastest growing sector, have traditionally received exemptions if they are studying full-time in religious seminaries. The exemptions date back to the birth of the state in 1948, when a small number of students sought to revive the Jewish scholarship system after it was decimated by the Holocaust.

Those exemptions — and the government stipends many seminary students receive up to the age of 26 — have infuriated many Israelis. Israel is currently maintaining a simultaneous military presence in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, in addition to fighting a war with Iran, which has stretched its robust military to the breaking point.

The Supreme Court said the exemptions were illegal in 2017, but repeated extensions and government delay tactics have left them in place.

Among Israel’s Jewish majority, mandatory military service is largely seen as a melting pot and rite of passage. Many in the insular ultra-Orthodox community fear that military service would expose young people to secular influences.