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Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Opinion - A ‘Return of the Jedi' moment in Ukraine
Cue the Star Wars theme music. In Ukraine, we just witnessed an epic real-life fiery version of the 'Return of the Jedi' movie. Of the nine principles of war described by Carl Von Clausewitz in his book 'On War,' surprise often yields the biggest dividend. It is achieved by 'strik[ing] the enemy at a time, place, and manner for which he or she is unprepared.' Ukraine did just that on Sunday with an operation code-named 'Spider's Web.' Ukrainian special forces launched drone strikes against four strategic Russian air bases — Belaya, Olenya, Dyagilevo, and Ivanovo — that spanned the length and breadth of Russia. More than 40 Russian military aircraft were reportedly struck. Operational video shows two Tupolev 'Bear' Tu-95 strategic bombers burning. They were likely destroyed. These are the same type of Russian aircraft that Vladimir Putin used last Thursday to launch missiles against Ukrainian civilian population centers across Ukraine. Notably, six of those bombers came from the Olenya Airbase in northern Russian in Murmansk near the border with Finland. Ukraine's reach is now just as deep as Putin's ballistic missiles. Something Kim Jong-un — Russia's Arsenals of Evil partner — must now factor in too. Belaya is only 2,000 kilometers from Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Make no mistake. These Ukrainian deep strikes — ingeniously conducted by infiltrating drones inside of Russia while using Putin's own cargo trucks to launch them — are a military game-changer on many levels. Yet again, Ukrainian innovation won the day. Despite President Trump's chiding of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in February that 'you don't have the cards,' he apparently did. Zelensky and his generals delivered a stunning blow to roughly 34 percent of the Russian strategic bomber fleet responsible for launching cruise missiles against Ukrainian cities. Beyond retribution for the deaths of Ukrainian men, women and children, Zelensky also demonstrated through this operation that Kyiv has the capacity for interdiction and deep strikes to conventionally defeat Russian forces in Ukraine — and to expel them from their occupied cities and oblasts. They also portend the type of strategic threats Brussels and Washington must be able to defend against in the future. Presently, NATO — especially its civilian population centers and military bases — is highly vulnerable to similar types of drone attacks. Indeed, a sobering Revolution in Military Affairs was showcased by Ukraine on Sunday. Trump's proposed 'Golden Dome' has been derided by many as a bridge too far, much like President Ronald Reagan's now prophetic 'Star Wars' missile defense shield. But it is now suddenly defensive took very much in need. If we desire to buy time to build and deploy it not just against Russia but a rising China as well, then the White House needs to embrace Ukraine winning. We have long warned that Kyiv cannot win if the U.S. prevents the Ukraine from attacking targets on Russian soil using Western-made and supplied weapon systems and munitions. Former President Joe Biden repeatedly made this mistake throughout his term. Defeating the weapon system from its point of origin rather than shooting down the individual missile over the skies of Ukraine — as aptly described by retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges as 'killing the archer rather than trying to knock down all of the arrows' — is the only way to put an end to Putin's deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilians. Defense of the skies is critical as well. The European Sky Shield initiative, as well as the creation and sustainment of an integrated, layered air defense system similar to the one Israel employed to defeat Iranian ballistic missile and drones attacks in April and October 2024 are critical parts of a No-Fly zone. Team Trump and NATO can now rectify that. Ukraine just dramatically exposed Putin's Achilles' Heel — and the White House can now exploit Russia's weakness and force Putin to concede defeat in his now three-year plus so-called 'Special Military Operation' against Ukraine. That means Washington, London and Brussels embracing joint interdiction operations and deep strike operations to convince the Kremlin it cannot win, much less sustain, the war Putin started in Ukraine. Russia has two great strengths. The first is through mass via infantry and artillery, applying relentless pressure despite a cost of 989,700 casualties and counting. The second is to instill fear in the civilian population by targeting and destroying villages, towns and cities. Interdiction, however, defeats Russian forces and their supply lines long before they arrive on the Ukrainian battlefields. Deep strikes attack Russia's ability to fund and sustain its war effort, including curtailing the strategic effects of bombing Ukrainian cities. The result is a siege warfare type of engagement, whereby an isolated Russian army in Ukraine is rendered incapable to continue fighting. Sunday's strikes against Russian targets exposed a critical vulnerability for the West to leverage. Putin thought he had all the cards going into the Istanbul 2.0 negotiations, but they have been lost. Still, this cannot be a one-and-done engagement — it must be sustained to force the withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukraine. Significantly, Ukraine just demonstrated that it will not wait for Washington and Brussels to act. And if the history is any indication — as with Kherson, Belgorod, Kursk, and the Patriot missile ambushes — momentum will be lost in fear of further antagonizing Russia. The Jedi impact on Putin was immediate. Russian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was suddenly the one without any cards to play during the Monday meeting in Istanbul. The session ended with Ukraine on the offensive, 'offer[ing] a complete ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners of war in an all-for-all format, bringing back the children abducted by Russia, and the release of all civilians from Russian captivity.' Putin, essentially playing the movie role of the Galactic Emperor, remains silent. A significant amount of his strategic bomber force was destroyed or damaged by an unseen force of daring Ukrainian Jedi. Sometimes, in real life, the fictional Luke Skywalkers win. Zelensky and his fellow Ukrainians just did. It is time Team Trump and NATO put an end to this movie and roll the credits on Putin and his 'special military operation' in Ukraine. Mark Toth writes on national security and foreign policy. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan E. Sweet served 30 years as an Army intelligence officer. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
A ‘Return of the Jedi' moment in Ukraine
Cue the Star Wars theme music. In Ukraine, we just witnessed an epic real-life fiery version of the 'Return of the Jedi' movie. Of the nine principles of war described by Carl Von Clausewitz in his book 'On War,' surprise often yields the biggest dividend. It is achieved by 'strik[ing] the enemy at a time, place, and manner for which he or she is unprepared.' Ukraine did just that on Sunday with an operation code-named 'Spider's Web.' Ukrainian special forces launched drone strikes against four strategic Russian air bases — Belaya, Olenya, Dyagilevo, and Ivanovo — that spanned the length and breadth of Russia. More than 40 Russian military aircraft were reportedly struck. Operational video shows two Tupolev 'Bear' Tu-95 strategic bombers burning. They were likely destroyed. These are the same type of Russian aircraft that Vladimir Putin used last Thursday to launch missiles against Ukrainian civilian population centers across Ukraine. Notably, six of those bombers came from the Olenya Airbase in northern Russian in Murmansk near the border with Finland. Ukraine's reach is now just as deep as Putin's ballistic missiles. Something Kim Jong-un — Russia's Arsenals of Evil partner — must now factor in too. Belaya is only 2,000 kilometers from Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Make no mistake. These Ukrainian deep strikes — ingeniously conducted by infiltrating drones inside of Russia while using Putin's own cargo trucks to launch them — are a military game-changer on many levels. Yet again, Ukrainian innovation won the day. Despite President Trump's chiding of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in February that 'you don't have the cards,' he apparently did. Zelensky and his generals delivered a stunning blow to roughly 34 percent of the Russian strategic bomber fleet responsible for launching cruise missiles against Ukrainian cities. Beyond retribution for the deaths of Ukrainian men, women and children, Zelensky also demonstrated through this operation that Kyiv has the capacity for interdiction and deep strikes to conventionally defeat Russian forces in Ukraine — and to expel them from their occupied cities and oblasts. They also portend the type of strategic threats Brussels and Washington must be able to defend against in the future. Presently, NATO — especially its civilian population centers and military bases — is highly vulnerable to similar types of drone attacks. Indeed, a sobering Revolution in Military Affairs was showcased by Ukraine on Sunday. Trump's proposed 'Golden Dome' has been derided by many as a bridge too far, much like President Ronald Reagan's now prophetic 'Star Wars' missile defense shield. But it is now suddenly defensive took very much in need. If we desire to buy time to build and deploy it not just against Russia but a rising China as well, then the White House needs to embrace Ukraine winning. We have long warned that Kyiv cannot win if the U.S. prevents the Ukraine from attacking targets on Russian soil using Western-made and supplied weapon systems and munitions. Former President Joe Biden repeatedly made this mistake throughout his term. Defeating the weapon system from its point of origin rather than shooting down the individual missile over the skies of Ukraine — as aptly described by retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges as 'killing the archer rather than trying to knock down all of the arrows' — is the only way to put an end to Putin's deliberate targeting of Ukrainian civilians. Defense of the skies is critical as well. The European Sky Shield initiative, as well as the creation and sustainment of an integrated, layered air defense system similar to the one Israel employed to defeat Iranian ballistic missile and drones attacks in April and October 2024 are critical parts of a No-Fly zone. Team Trump and NATO can now rectify that. Ukraine just dramatically exposed Putin's Achilles' Heel — and the White House can now exploit Russia's weakness and force Putin to concede defeat in his now three-year plus so-called 'Special Military Operation' against Ukraine. That means Washington, London and Brussels embracing joint interdiction operations and deep strike operations to convince the Kremlin it cannot win, much less sustain, the war Putin started in Ukraine. Russia has two great strengths. The first is through mass via infantry and artillery, applying relentless pressure despite a cost of 989,700 casualties and counting. The second is to instill fear in the civilian population by targeting and destroying villages, towns and cities. Interdiction, however, defeats Russian forces and their supply lines long before they arrive on the Ukrainian battlefields. Deep strikes attack Russia's ability to fund and sustain its war effort, including curtailing the strategic effects of bombing Ukrainian cities. The result is a siege warfare type of engagement, whereby an isolated Russian army in Ukraine is rendered incapable to continue fighting. Sunday's strikes against Russian targets exposed a critical vulnerability for the West to leverage. Putin thought he had all the cards going into the Istanbul 2.0 negotiations, but they have been lost. Still, this cannot be a one-and-done engagement — it must be sustained to force the withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukraine. Significantly, Ukraine just demonstrated that it will not wait for Washington and Brussels to act. And if the history is any indication — as with Kherson, Belgorod, Kursk, and the Patriot missile ambushes — momentum will be lost in fear of further antagonizing Russia. The Jedi impact on Putin was immediate. Russian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was suddenly the one without any cards to play during the Monday meeting in Istanbul. The session ended with Ukraine on the offensive, 'offer[ing] a complete ceasefire, the exchange of prisoners of war in an all-for-all format, bringing back the children abducted by Russia, and the release of all civilians from Russian captivity.' Putin, essentially playing the movie role of the Galactic Emperor, remains silent. A significant amount of his strategic bomber force was destroyed or damaged by an unseen force of daring Ukrainian Jedi. Sometimes, in real life, the fictional Luke Skywalkers win. Zelensky and his fellow Ukrainians just did. It is time Team Trump and NATO put an end to this movie and roll the credits on Putin and his 'special military operation' in Ukraine. Mark Toth writes on national security and foreign policy. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan E. Sweet served 30 years as an Army intelligence officer.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
On Star Wars
Daily Quiz | On Star Wars Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit YOUR SCORE 0 /6 RETAKE THE QUIZ 1 / 6 | Let's toss it up, to start with. The first Star Wars movie that was released, was retrospectively paired with two other movies, and that trilogy was later associated with a prequel trilogy and a sequel trilogy. What was this trilogy of trilogies called? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : The Skywalker Saga SHOW ANSWER 2 / 6 | What was Return of the Jedi called before they changed the name a few months before release? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : Revenge of the Jedi SHOW ANSWER 3 / 6 | Before Frank Oz controlled the puppet for Yoda, what animal was supposed to play the wise one? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : A monkey SHOW ANSWER 4 / 6 | During the production of A New Hope, the Libyan government mistakenly identified this vehicle as a military tank. Name the vehicle. DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : The Jawa Sandcrawler SHOW ANSWER 5 / 6 | Before Yoda had only one name, 'Yoda' was actually supposed to be his last name. What was his first name then? DID YOU KNOW THE ANSWER? YES NO Answer : Minch SHOW ANSWER
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Marvel's new Star Wars #1 enters the post-Return of the Jedi era with new adventures for Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Star Wars Saga has risen to great heights with spin-offs and stories that have explored the different eras of the epic franchise. But now, Marvel is bringing it all back to the characters of the classic Star Wars trilogy with a new Star Wars #1 that puts Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia Organa in the spotlight for new adventures. Set in the time after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens, the new Star Wars ongoing title is written by Alex Segura with art by Phil Noto. We've got a gallery of newly revealed interior pages from Star Wars #1, showing Luke and Leia dealing with their own aspects of the end of the Galactic Civil War: Image 1 of 6 Image 2 of 6 Image 3 of 6 Image 4 of 6 Image 5 of 6 Image 6 of 6 "AN EPIC NEW ADVENTURE BEGINS FOR LUKE, LEIA AND HAN IN THE WAKE OF RETURN OF THE JEDI! New York Times best-selling author ALEX SEGURA launches the bold next era of STAR WARS," reads Marvel's official description of Star Wars #1. "LUKE SKYWALKER must defend the NEW REPUBLIC from a bloodthirsty gang of mercenaries! HAN SOLO investigates a deadly underworld mystery - and saves a surprising ally! LEIA ORGANA must grapple with a new alliance opposed to the goals of the New Republic!" Return of the Jedi was the last film in the original Star Wars trilogy. And though older comics and novels explored the period directly after the film, this period has been far less thoroughly explored in current Star Wars continuity. Star Wars #1 goes on sale May 7. Check out the best Star Wars comics characters of all time.
The Hindu
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Star Wars Day 2025: Ranking the 10 best ‘Star Wars' stories ever told
For a franchise born in a desert under a binary sunset and raised among myth, merchandise, and cultural liturgy, Star Wars has aged into something oddly baroque. Across nearly five decades, it has produced a sprawling mosaic of stories — some sublime, some embarrassing, and some both at once. Sorting through the rubble and relics of that galaxy far, far away is no small task, but if there's a throughline to be found, it lies in the franchise's unshakable belief in the redemptive power of story: that good and evil can be felt in orchestral swells, that the past is worth fighting, and that somewhere in the light of twin suns or the sparks of rebellion, someone is always choosing to be better. Here, then, are the ten finest expressions of that belief — films and series that expanded the myth, sharpened it, and in the best cases, even challenged it. 10. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi For a film tasked with closing the most operatic of space operas, Return of the Jedi wears its destiny with a lightness of heart. It's a strange brew of Ewok showboating and existential redemption, and while its tonal shifts occasionally buckle under the weight of trilogy-ending expectations, the final confrontation between father and son is pure mythological gold. Few films allow a villain in a black mask to die so tenderly. 9. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi Rian Johnson's provocation-in-sheep-clothing is perhaps the most literary of the Star Wars entries. It is philosophical, bristling with contradiction, and unwilling to kneel before the altar of nostalgia. Here, Luke Skywalker is no longer the familiar Joseph Campbell-ian boy-hero, but a weary monk who milks sea cows and shames legends. The film fractured the fandom, as true revolutions must, but in doing so, it dared to question what happens when myths age, and whether burning them down might be the truest way to preserve them. 8. The Mandalorian What began as a spaghetti western in a galaxy far, far away has evolved into a gentle meditation on fatherhood, loyalty, and the unlikely warmth of a faceless man and a 50-year-old green toddler. The Mandalorian succeeded by polishing the wheels of reinvention with a reverence for genre and an eye for simplicity. Each episode is a love letter to the serialised adventures of yore, shot through with space dogfights, sand-swept vistas, and the occasional Werner Herzog cameo. That it also reintroduced Boba Fett and gave us Grogu is just sweetened blue milk. 7. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Initially dismissed as a babysitter for younglings and the chronically online, The Clone Wars grew — seven seasons deep — into one of the most emotionally intricate and narratively generous pieces of Star Wars storytelling. It gave flesh to the clone troopers, enhanced Anakin's tragedy, and turned Ahsoka Tano into a paradigm. The show embroidered the gaps with consequence, character, and lightsaber choreography that often outshone its cinematic siblings. 6. Star Wars Rebels If Clone Wars was the war epic, Rebels is the poem of resistance that's smaller in scale but richer in heart. Set between the fall of the Republic and the rise of rebellion, the show chronicles the coming-of-age of Ezra Bridger, a scrappy Force-sensitive orphan, and a makeshift family of freedom fighters aboard the Ghost. It takes Star Wars' most sacred texts of the Force, legacy, and sacrifice, and wrestles with them in meaningful ways. By the time it also introduces time travel, it somehow well and truly earns it. 5. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope There is a childlike sincerity in A New Hope that has, with time, become the stuff of legend. It is both artefact and origin story, a cosmic pastiche of Kurosawa and Flash Gordon, spliced together with model glue and instinct. Its world-building is tactile and its stakes, though galactic, are deeply personal. Watching it now is like revisiting the hopeful, clumsy and luminous relics of a distant childhood you never had but somehow remember. 4. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story No Jedi, no Skywalkers — just the desperate logistics of rebellion. Rogue One is a war film smuggled inside a Star Wars shell, in which heroism is earned, not inherited, and hope is something passed hand to hand like contraband. Its ending is a self-destructive masterclass, as [SPOILERS] every major character is extinguished so that a single line of dialogue in A New Hope might blaze with retroactive glory. It is the franchise's most self-contained elegy, and one of its most stirring. 3. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith This is where the mask fits, finally. After two films of cringeworthy galactic soap and awkward courtship, Revenge of the Sith plunges into operatic tragedy, embracing the inherent doom of the prequels. It is Shakespeare by way of volcanic lightsaber confrontations, brimming with heartbreak and political cynicism. Palpatine becomes the devil in bureaucrat's robes, and Anakin finally fulfils his destiny as the cautionary tale writ forged in fire and betrayal. Say what you will about its sometimes wooden (but endlessly meme-able) dialogue — this is the fall of Rome with a John Williams score. 2. Andor In a franchise built on chosen ones, Andor turns its lens to the unchosen, the invisible, the desperate, and the morally ambiguous. Tony Gilroy's radical masterpiece frees itself from the shackles of space operatics and refines itself as a riveting socio-political descent into fascism, and the many forms resistance must take. Through dystopian prison floors that hum with dread, banal ISB boardrooms that chill the blood, and piercing monologues that border on scripture, the show reframes heroism as a daily, often joyless act of defiance. No lightsabers, and certainly no Force. Just ordinary people teetering on the edge of an extraordinary, inextinguishable belief. 1. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back There is a reason this is the Rosetta Stone of sequels. The Empire Strikes Back takes the brash optimism of its predecessor and coats it in frost — literally, on Hoth, and figuratively, through betrayal, failure, and one of the most iconic paternity reveals in cinematic history. It is a film that deepens the myth without resolving it, to split its heroes and leave them suspended in narrative limbo. Irvin Kershner directs with moody gravitas, and suddenly Star Wars becomes an immortal saga. Happy May 4th to all, and May the Force be with you, always.
