Russian

Iran has resurrected a Russian Frankenstein for what is to come

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For decades, Russian shipyards have turned their diesel-electric submarines into one of the star products of their military industry: dozens of units of Project 877 and 636 (known in the West as the Kilo class) were exported to countries such as India, China, Algeria, Vietnam or Iran, offering a combination of relatively contained cost, affordable maintenance and coastal warfare capabilities that allowed navies without a great submarine tradition to take a strategic leap without developing their own technology. Iran has resurrected and modernized one of them. The shadow under the Strait. While Washington was approaching their carrier groups to the Gulf and first the USS Abraham Lincoln, and then the USS Gerald R. Ford, entered sensitive waters, the satellites captured a disturbing image at Iranian Base 1: one of the old Kilo class submarinesacquired from Russia in the nineties for around $600 million each, returned to its berth after months in dry dock. Amid American pressure for a new nuclear deal and Iranian warnings of all-out war, Tehran appeared to have resurrected a Frankenstein Russian for submarine warfare, returning to the scene a platform that for years dragged maintenance problems and availability, but it remains its most powerful asset underwater. The myth of the Russian “black hole”. The Kilo, designed in the Cold War as Project 877 and evolved into later variants, gained the nickname “black hole” for their low acoustic signal when sailing on batteries, a reputation that some experts consider exaggeratedagainst modern Western submarines with air-independent propulsion. However, their combination of relative stealth, heavy torpedoes, ability to mine shipping lanes, and anechoic coatings made them one of the star products Soviet and Russian naval export, sold to China, India or Iran, countries that were looking for an effective submarine force without developing their own industry. Today many of these navies are removing them due to obsolescence, but in the Persian Gulf they continue to be pieces with strategic value. A weapon designed to deny. The normal thing is that Iran does not aspire to defeat the United States Navy in the open field, but rather to defeat make more expensive and complicate its presence in the Strait of Hormuz through an area denial strategy supported by a set of mines, coastal missiles, fast boats and submarines. In this scenario, a Kilo operating on batteries can become a serious threat. for escort or logistics vessels that transit maritime corridors barely three kilometers wide, even if a supercarrier has layered defenses and anti-submarine coverage with MH-60R helicopters and airplanes P-8A. The key in this case is not so much to sink an aircraft carrier, but to sow enough uncertainty to raise the political and military cost of any attack. The dwarf fleet that completes the picture. There is no doubt, the modernization of the Kilo cannot be understood without the other half of the Iranian device: the more than twenty Ghadir class mini submarinesat least eleven recently visible on the same base, designed for shallow waters and intense traffic. With just 117-125 tons submerged and diesel-electric propulsion, these units are optimized for ambushes in coastal environments where civil noise, salinity and currents degrade sonar performance, making them difficult to detect, although limited in autonomy and firepower. Faced with American technological superiority, Iran accumulates quantity, dispersion and knowledge of the terrain. Geography, wear and calculation. Experts say as Jack Bubby that another equation must be taken into account. The conditions of the Gulf, a scenario with shallow depth, high salinity and complex currents, have historically punished the Iranian Kilos and reduced availabilityforcing long periods of maintenance and reconditioning. But precisely this restricted environment favors small and discreet platforms, and turns any concentration of naval forces into a calculated risk exercise. Thus, while the United States reinforces its presence to sustain diplomatic and military pressure, Tehran rebuilds its submarine force combining updated Soviet relics and modern coastal flotillas, betting that, in a conflict, the shadow underwater weighs as much as the steel visible on the surface. Image | rhk111X, Vitaliy Ankov In Xataka | From space something very dangerous can be seen in Iran: the US cannot do what it did in Caracas if it does not want a massacre In Xataka | If the US attacks Iran with drones, it will find a surprise: Russia has shielded its sky with an explosive weapon, Verba

the dangerous viral trend that turns a common medicine into a lethal Russian roulette

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Something that may be quite internalized in society is that taking too much of a medication Anyone can have a very harmful effect on the body, and logically we avoid taking a lot of ibuprofen or paracetamol at once. But social networks have taken this as a new challenge which consists of taking paracetamol pills in a group to see who can achieve spend more time admitted in the hospital due to the liver failure it generates. Crazy. What has been dubbed the “paracetamol challenge” on social media is becoming a real nightmare for emergency and toxicology services. And it is no wonder, since behind the false sense of security that an over-the-counter medication such as paracetamol gives, hides a mechanism of implacable toxicity capable of destroying the liver of a teenager in a matter of hours. At an international level. The phenomenon is not new, but it has raised alarm bells internationally due to its recent outbreaks. In the United Kingdom, newspapers such as The Independent have been echoed of police warnings after registering cases of teenagers intentionally intoxicated in Soutampaton due to this challenge. And, although the first thing you might think is that it is a suicide attempt, since paracetamol is one of the ways used to do it, the reality is that they do it because of a challenge seen on TikTok. This too has reached countries like Belgiumwhere health authorities have had to launch a strong alert about videos that encourage people to overdose on this medication. In Spain. Has not been left behind our country, which has also reported cases of adolescents who have followed this challenge. But to such an extent that in Malaga There have been two hospital admissions due to liver failure due to a drug overdose. The paracetamol trap. Although it is a medication that can be found over the counter, in the case of Spain, generally the dose is 500 mg, the truth is that it has a great danger behind it, since paracetamol overdose is one of the most frequent and potentially lethal pharmacological poisonings. But the great deception of this challenge is that symptoms of poisoning do not occur in the first hoursbut a teenager can ingest several grams of acetaminophen and feel at most mild nausea or vomiting. In this way, while the young man thinks that “nothing has happened” and that he has won the challenge to his friends, the liver is silently collapsing. In days. International clinical guidelines place special emphasis on this: late liver deterioration, since the symptoms of severe liver failure appear only three days after taking the paracetamol overdose. And here on many occasions it is too late to act from medicine, which causes the death of the patient. The mechanism. Playing the “paracetamol challenge” is, in medical terms, playing Russian roulette, since massive intake of this drug saturates the metabolic pathways of the liver, generating a highly toxic metabolite called NAPQI that destroys liver cells when in large doses. With a normal and scheduled intake, this metabolite is produced, but the liver can control it by transforming it into another product that it quickly discards. But when the amount is very high, the liver literally has no capacity to process it into something less harmful. The treatment. Right now, the only thing that has shown a reversal of liver damage from acetaminophen overdose is N-acetylcysteine. However, the effect decreases as time passes, and it is ideal to administer it in the first eight hours after an overdose with paracetamol. The problem is that the teenager can hide that he is beginning to feel bad because he has a feeling of guilt or even fear of the consequences that his actions may have on his parents. This is why it may be the case that you arrive late to a hospital to receive treatment and that the window available to do a stomach lavage or even for a liver transplant to arrive is very small. Raise awareness. The “paracetamol challenge” is not just another Internet hoax, but rather it is a direct fight against the biology of the human body in which the prize for “lasting longer in the hospital” can be multiple organ failure or ending up on the waiting list to receive a transplant. In this way, the most important thing is always to make minors aware of how serious it can be to take too much paracetamol, since it is possible that they do not know that something that a priori ‘cures’ their fever or discomfort can end up killing them. Images | danilo.alvesd In Xataka | Ozempic not only eliminates hunger, it is rewriting the supermarket ticket: goodbye to ultra-processed foods and spending on snacks

“We didn’t expect this.” A Ukrainian drone has revealed a Russian arsenal in a warehouse, and the surprise has been huge: the missiles are animals

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From the early stages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when tanks were advancing while logistics columns were bogged down and fuel was scarce, the war began to reveal an uncomfortable paradox: the more modern it became in the skies, more “medieval” It was done on the ground. In fact, in that space where drones, satellites and trenches coexist, the return of solutions from the past apparently overcome was an early sign that the conflict was going to be, above all, a test of resistance. The latest Ukrainian discovery has confirmed that the wear and tear is tremendous. The return of the war of attrition. The irony is that the war in Ukraine has been shedding any illusion of modernity to return, as the days go by, to brutal logic of wear, one in which the quantity and capacity to take losses They weigh more than any technological “game changer”, and where the Russian army, pressured by the massive consumption of material and men, is beginning to show obvious signs of logistical exhaustion. On the southern and eastern front, the shortage of armored vehicles and modern systems is no longer hidden with silence, but is manifest in improvised solutions reminiscent of conflicts from another era and centuries, while Moscow insists on maintaining constant pressure on Ukrainian defenses at any cost. Cavalry in the 21st century. This wear and tear became visible at the beginning of 2026 when Ukrainian units detected and neutralized Russian assaults carried out on horseback, a tactic that seemed banished from modern warfare but that reappeared in sectors such as Oleskiivka in response to lack of means conventional. We are talking about small assault groups that advanced mounted, supported by prior reconnaissance, in infiltration attempts that ended up being aborted by drones and fire defensive, leaving such an absurd image (and repeated) as revealing: many horses survived, but the soldiers did not, and the Russian army confirmed that it was willing to resort to any available resources to sustain its offensive. The drone and the impossible arsenal. Now, the scene What finally condensed this drift came several weeks later, when a Ukrainian drone sneaked through the destroyed roof of a hidden warehouse, several kilometers from the line of contact, with the usual expectation of finding ammunition, fuel or military vehicles. What happened gives an idea of ​​these four years of slow war that has worn down both sides. Instead of artillery and technology to advance, the camera showed something that looked like something out of a rural garage: aging civilian cars, motorcycles from another era, and saddled horses, an “arsenal” as unexpected as it is eloquent of the state of the war in many areas. The message. “We didn’t expect to see this. It was really unusual,” said the drone pilot. to the Insider mediumspeaking on condition that he only be identified by his callsign “Cosmos.” “We were hoping to find some armored vehicles,” he added. He video It went viral because it summarized in seconds the real state of Russian logistics, but also because it demonstrated that those animals were not an isolated anecdote, but part of a system that already uses cheap and expendable media to move and attack under the constant threat of drones. Russia and the logic of sacrifice. For the Ukrainian commanders, this discovery is neither trivial nor a simple curiosity, but rather proof of a way of waging war based on accepting massive losses of material and personnel, replacing armored by civilian cars and horses because they are easier to replace. This logic, which prioritizes the attrition of the enemy, even if the cost is enormous, explains why Moscow continues to advance slowly, launching assaults with many times obsolete or improvised in regions such as Donbas, even when the monthly casualty figures, according to NATOreach levels that are difficult to sustain. If you will, the drone that expected to find missiles and found animals ended up portraying, better than any report, a war that moves backwards while consuming everything at hand. Image | 82nd Air Assault Brigade, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine In Xataka | It is evident that Russia can absorb thousands and thousands of casualties. So Ukraine is already designing a much riskier plan In Xataka | An unprecedented experiment is happening in Ukraine: bombs have turned dogs into other animals

The Rafale takes advantage over the US F-35 and the Russian Su-57E

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India has launched one of the most ambitious military acquisition movements in recent years, a process that, due to its economic volume and strategic dimension, clearly transcends the national sphere and fully connects with the industrial and geopolitical balances that Europe observes. Although the decision still does not amount to a signed contract nor does it close all the technical details, it points a direction within a board where several powers were competing. In that initial context, France appears well positioned to occupy a central role if the next phases of the process progress as planned by the Indian authorities. On February 12, 2026, the Defense Acquisition Council chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh granted the so-called “Acceptance of necessity” to a set of acquisition proposals valued at around Rs 3.60 lakh crore, a figure roughly equivalent to €33.5 billion. In the case of the Indian Air Force, this preliminary approval includes the purchase of MRFA (Multi Role Fighter Aircraft), identified as Rafale in the statement, in addition to combat missiles and a high-altitude aerial system intended for intelligence, surveillance and persistent reconnaissance. The move that can change India’s aerial balance It is advisable to stop at this administrative nuance because it defines the real scope of the advertisement. We are not facing a contractcalendars, final prices or closed technical configurations, but before a resource that authorizes the armed forces to begin the formal acquisition process within the approved budget framework. From there, commercial phases, technical negotiations and industrial adjustments usually begin that can last for months or even years before leading to a definitive signature. Beyond what was confirmed by the Indian Government, some specialized media provide additional elements that help outline the potential scope of the program. Defense News claims that the approved proposal would include the purchase of 114 Rafale. In any case, the institutional approval occurs a few days before French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Indian capitala calendar that suggests the existence of political and industrial talks still developing. This possible French role cannot be understood without the competitive context in which the process has developed. The proposal linked to the Rafale coexisted with offers presented by The United States with its F-35 and Russia with the Su-57Etwo platforms that aspired to occupy the same space within the Indian aerial modernization program. To understand why this platform now occupies the center of the debate, it is worth briefly focusing on what exactly the Rafale is within the panorama of contemporary combat aviation. It is a twin-engine fighter conceived from its origin as a multirole aircraft, capable of operating from both land bases and aircraft carriers and taking on missions ranging from air superiority to reconnaissance or deep attacks. The device entered service with the French Navy in 2004 and with the Air Force in 2006, and has demonstrated its capabilities in real operations since 2007. Within this general architecture, the Rafale is not a single closed model, but a family of aircraft with a high degree of common elements and adaptations depending on the operating environment. Dassault Aviation distinguishes three configurations that share a cell and mission system, but respond to different needs for deployment, training and on-board use. Rafale C: single-seat version operated from land bases, designed for conventional combat missions within the air force. Rafale M: variant adapted to operations on aircraft carriers, with structural modifications such as reinforced landing gear and landing hook for naval use. Rafale B: two-seat configuration also based on land, used both for training and for missions that require workload sharing between two crew members. Beyond its external configuration, a good part of the Rafale’s international positioning is based on its technical capabilities. which describes its own manufacturer. Dassault Aviation maintains that the aircraft can take on a full spectrum of combat missions, from air superiority and defense to close support, reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes or nuclear deterrence, supported by a broad suite of sensors and systems such as digital flight control. fly-by-wire or the automatic terrain collision avoidance system. Specifying which aircraft the Indian Air Force would actually receive remains, for the moment, an open question. In this sense, it is necessary to point out that there is no official public detail that confirms the specific version of the Rafale or the exact set of systems and weapons that would accompany a possible order. Where there is a greater definition is in the naval field. The agreement for the Indian Navy includes 26 devices of the M variant. Another important fact is that India already operates 36 Rafales incorporated since 2020 and deployed in different bases. As we can see, the current photograph combines indications of a strategic inclination with a still open process, where the final signature and definitive configuration are still pending negotiation. Images | Dylan Agbagni (CC0 1.0 Universal) | Dassault Aviation In Xataka | A strange night noise was disturbing Alcalá de Henares’ sleep. Until the mystery was solved

a Russian startup has hacked their brains to turn them into drones with wings

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Nothing more a priori innocent than a pigeon flying over the buildings of a city or perched in a square. Or not, because in addition to being just another city dweller (sometimes excessively so, which becomes a problem), pigeons have been used as discreet express messengers from the ancient Sumerian and Egyptian civilizations. And also in war scenarios: in World War I, the United States Army created a carrier pigeon service called United States Army Pigeon Service for tactical messaging when all else failed or was destroyed. Now the Russian startup Neiry assures having given them one more twist: it has turned pigeons into biological drones. An electrode in the brain. What the Russian company proposes is not to biomimic a drone so that it resembles a pigeon, but to convert this animal into a transport vector by equipping it with implanted neural interfaces. More specifically, they implant electrodes in the brain, which are then connected to a stimulator attached to the head. That is, a kind of GPS that speaks with the brain of the bird. Neiry explains that the interface provides mild stimulation to certain brain regions, thus causing the bird to (artificially) prefer a certain direction. Otherwise, the bird behaves naturally. This system does not replace the bird’s will, but rather biases its sense of orientation to follow pre-established routes. Why birds? According to the Russian startupthe objective is to use biological carriers in situations where drones have limitations in range, weight or others such as a restricted area. Alexander Panov, CEO of the company, explains that birds can maneuver in complex environments, fly for long periods and operate in places where drones are restricted, such as collects Bloomberg. Anyone who has handled a drone knows that there is one critical element: the battery. Unlike unmanned aerial vehicles, a pigeon does not need to change its battery nor does it require frequent landings: its nature gives it everything necessary to carry out a long-distance flight. Millions of years of evolution make a bird beat any commercial drone and its 20-minute battery life in terms of flight stabilization and energy efficiency. In fact, up to 400 kilometers a day without stops. Pigeons with backpack. In the test flights that Neiry has carried out with these pigeon drones, the birds were equipped with this neural interface, in addition to a small backpack with the controller, solar panels mounted on the back and a camera. Of course, without giving as much singing as a drone, they did not go unnoticed, as can be seen in the video provided by the company. Pigeons are just the beginning. Panov has explained that although they currently focus on pigeons, “different species can be used depending on the environment or payload.” Bloomberg echoes of other similar implantations, such as the brain of cows for NeuroFarming, so that they produce more milk. And a rather spooky ultimate goal: “to create the next human species after Homo sapiens: Homo superior.” Possible applications. After the tests, the company ensures that the system is ready for practical implementation. According to Neiryhave no plans to use these birds for military purposes despite the fact that in a war or surveillance scenario their use is disruptive: the radars are programmed to filter out winged fauna as ‘noise’ or false positives. In short: they would go unnoticed. Among the ideas of use where they see an opportunity are infrastructure inspection, support for search and rescue, coastal and environmental observation or monitoring of remote areas in places like Brazil or India. Where is the ethics?. Mechanical drones are easier to control, they are capable of carrying larger loads and obviously, they do not need to feed nor will they defecate on you. And that’s not to mention the ethical implications of altering an animal’s behavior. Gizmodo details that after the surgery to implant the chip, the pigeons are almost ready to fly, so the risk “is low for the survival of the birds.” Of course, the startup has not provided independent third-party reviews, which makes specialists question the ethical implications of its technology. The bioethicist and law professor at Duke University Nita Farahany affirms that “Every time we use neural implants to try to control and manipulate any species, it is disgusting.” In Xataka | The war in Ukraine has become something absurd: there are drones shooting at Russian soldiers dressed as “penguins” In Xataka | We had seen everything in Ukraine, but this is unprecedented: Russia is not launching drones, it is launching “Frankensteins” Cover | sanjiv nayak and Andreas Schantl

There is only something more intimidating, dangerous and outside of road regulations than a Cybertruck: a Russian Cybertruck

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A Russian startup has recently presented what Tesla has not dared to create: an electric van with the same angular design and stainless steel body that characterizes the Cybertruck. It’s called Russo-Balt F200.was recently sighted in the country and already has a production date for January 2027. A particular project. From the middle CarScoops they count that it is not a simple prototype or a digital render. And the F200 already circulates through the streets snowfall in Russia, and specifically it was sighted in the city of Perm. The company has revived the name of Russo-Balt, a historic Russian automobile and railroad car manufacturer that operated between 1869 and 1918, to give life to this project that mixes a bit of industrial heritage with futuristic aesthetics. In detail. The F200 measures 5,950 mm long, 2,000 mm wide and 2,550 mm high. It has a monocoque structure, unusual in vans of this size that usually use ladder chassis, and supports a payload of up to 1,000 kg. The startup counted The stainless steel panels are hand-welded and, although the body comes unpainted, buyers will be able to customize it with polyurethane wraps in various colors and graphics. under the hood. A 200 HP electric motor drives the front wheels, powered by a 115 kWh battery that promises 400 kilometers of autonomy. According to account In the middle, the van supports direct current fast charging through a port located on the front fender. Standard equipment includes ABS, ESP, climate control, rear air suspension and a 360-degree camera system. The startup insists that practically all surfaces are heated: seats, steering wheel, mirrors and even the windshield wipers, especially thinking about the harsh Russian winters. A possible Chinese brother. Initially it was debated that the vehicle could be a modified version of the V90a van from the Chinese company Weiqiao New Energy. However, Russo-Balt insists that the F200 is his own design. The company highlights that its team has previous experience in the manufacture of stainless steel water dispensers, knowledge that they now apply to the production of the vehicle, which they confirm will be made to order. Between the lines. Following the massive withdrawal of Western manufacturers from the country following the invasion of Ukraine, Chinese brands They have quickly occupied that space and now represent the majority of new car sales in Russia. The F200 perhaps represents an attempt to once again develop local production capacity with a product that is, of course, very striking. How to get one. The price is set at 6.5 million rubles, approximately 72,400 euros at the exchange rate. The company asks for a refundable deposit of about 10,000 rubles, about 111 euros. Russo-Balt also offers a curious 100-year warranty for stainless steel panels. It’s a fairly ambitious figure, but also difficult to verify even considering that the car hasn’t even gone into production yet. And now what. Russo-Balt is already working on a second modelthe F400, which will incorporate a gasoline engine as a range extender and all-wheel drive through two electric motors, adding 400 HP of combined power. It will also add front air suspension to the rear that already includes the F200. Although no pricing details have been revealed, this model targets a more premium segment. It remains to be seen if the startup delivers on its promises and if demand follows. In Xataka | You can now bid on the most exclusive Ford GT prototype in history. The only handicap is that you won’t be able to drive it.

A video of a Russian soldier ignoring a bomb falling on him is the clue to something deeper in Ukraine

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This circulating a clip as brief as it is disturbing: what appears to be a fragmentation munition falls at a soldier’s feet, explodes practically beneath him and, against all logic, the man continues walking as if nothing had happened, “ignoring” the immediate impact of a detonation that, by pure physics, should have destroyed him or at least knocked him down and left him incapacitated. The explanation points to a tactic that is not new. What doesn’t fit. The most striking from the video It is not just that he remains standing, but the absence of the instinctive reaction that any body has to pain and shock, as if the nervous system were disconnected or anesthetized. And here comes the detail that makes the scene even more disturbing: according to Canadian analyst Roythe scene suggests that it is a Russian soldier, and that what we see is not a typical Ukrainian attack, but a deliberate attempt to eliminate him by his own people, perhaps because he was trying to defect. In that reading, the explosion would not be bad luck, but rather a covert execution, with what appears to be una OFSP-0.5, launched with the intention of cutting his retreat short and erasing any uncomfortable history before he crosses a line or surrenders. The “zombies” of Bakhmut. The image does not appear out of nowhere: it fits within a sensation that is repeated from the hardest moments of the siege at Bakhmutwhen Ukrainian fighters they described Russian attacks that seemed written by someone who doesn’t understand human survival. Waves of men advancing without coordination, without visible tactical logic, walking almost in a straight line towards enemy fire, with stories that spoke of soldiers who kept appearingalthough the first had already been killed, and with a strange passivity even under bombardment. We talk about videos where soldiers were seen move slowlystaggering, as if they were stuck in a thick dream, unable to move away even as grenades fell around them. In that framework, the video soldier current seems like the extreme version of the same impression. The drug hypothesis. For months, many Ukrainians have sustained an uncomfortable idea: that part of these attacks are not explained only by incompetence or desperation, but by soldiers “doped” envoyswith substances that reduce fear and disconnect prudence. The accusation appears in direct testimonies: men who seem euphoric or absent, who advance without understanding what they are doing, who do not retreat even if death is obvious, who react late or not at all. Not only that. Suspicion persists because, from a military point of view, the temptation it’s too clear: If what you need is infantry who will walk toward fire, who will endure a corridor battered by artillery, who will not be slowed by anxiety, and who will execute orders in an environment where instinct would say “flight,” a stimulant or narcotic mixture can make a soldier a more manageable asset. Pervitin, an early form of methamphetamine, which was widely used in Nazi Germany The Nazi shadow. To understand why this idea is not science fiction, just look at the most famous historical precedent: Nazi Germany led drug use combat at an industrial level with Pervitina low-dose amphetamine similar to modern methamphetamine that was first popularized in civilian society and then became a military multiplier. wanted something simple: reduce sleep, raise morale, reduce fear, increase aggression and sustain the execution of tasks without rest for days, just what is needed for rapid offensives and to maintain the rhythm when the body should collapse. And it wasn’t just the Nazis, also the allies. Super soldiers. That logic fit like a key in the blitzkrieg lock: continuous movements, mechanized attacks, advance without pause, a sensation of permanent thrust that overwhelmed the enemy not only because of the power, but because of the ability to not stop. He myth of the “super soldier” It wasn’t a futuristic helmet: it was a pill. And if that episode taught anything, it is that armies, when they believe they can gain an advantage or sustain performance, usually put immediate effectiveness before medium-term human cost. Soldiers under the influence. The pattern of effects attributed to this type of stimulant is perfectly compatible with what appears in many stories of the war: less fear, more aggressiveness, less need to sleep, more resistance to fatigue and a certain ease in executing simple commands even in extreme conditions. The price is usually the psychological and physical toll: dependency, depression, impulsivity, loss of judgment, and a progressive degradation of the soldier as a functional person outside of the moment of combat. On the front line, however, that bill is irrelevant to a short-term planner: if what you need is for someone to cross a field of fire today, you care little about what happens to them a month from now. That’s why video on networks It is so symbolic and striking: it seems to be the exact moment in which the body stops behaving like a human that preserves its life and begins to behave like a moving object that only obeys the forward vector. The other side of the coin. However, there is an essential nuance: “zombie” behavior does not always involve drugs. It may simply be the ugliest version from reality: extreme coldlack of equipment, exhaustion, hungeraccumulated sleep, sustained stress and the confusion of a mind that shuts down. The early hypothermiafor example, fits brutally with many clips: slowness, clumsiness, difficulty processing stimuli, confused speech, lost gaze. And in the Russian case there is also a historical tradition of war “fuel” much more mundane: alcohol as a tactical and psychological value, from vodka rations in World War II (used to combat the cold and to give courage before attacks) until modern episodes of indiscipline and documented drunkenness. A sign of the times. In short, the video that has gone viral In networks it leaves that somewhat absurd feeling of “two options”: either it was a Terminator, or the soldier was under some type … Read more

A 19th century tactic is blowing up Russian horses

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The war in Ukraine, presented for months as the great laboratory of 21st century combat dominated by dronessensors and electronic warfare, is entering a deeply contradictory phase in which technologies from the last century and tactics from the 19th century are resurfacing, not due to doctrinal choice but due to material exhaustion. There are really videos explosives. The war that looks back. Ukraine has entered a phase in which the narrative of permanent innovation begins to crack, because along with drones and electronic warfare, technologies and practices that they considered themselves surpassednot as isolated oddities but as structural solutions to a conflict that has become a test of industrial and logistical resistance. The battlefield no longer advances at the pace of available technology, but rather at the pace of resources still in stock, which is pushing armies to rescue weapons, doctrines and methods that belong to other timesadapting them to a radically different environment. Soviet mines. The Soviet anti-tank mine TM-62 has become one of the best examples of this functional regression, not because it is especially sophisticated, but because it combines three key virtues in a war of attrition: power, simplicity and abundance. Designed to destroy armored vehicles from underground, today it is also used as an improvised demolition charge and as aerial ammunition. launched from dronestaking advantage of its enormous explosive charge to compensate for the lack of modern ammunition. The result is an artifact from the sixties that has been found a second life in the most monitored and technical war in history, demonstrating that, when supply fails, creativity relies on what already exists. Image capture from a video shared on social media showing the view from a Ukrainian bomber drone as it drops a TM-62 anti-tank mine on a Russian position The war of attrition. The massive reuse of the TM-62 does not respond to a tactical preference, but to an industrial reality that affects both sidesalthough especially harshly on the Russian side, where producing and sustaining advanced weapons is increasingly expensive. In this context, recycling ammunition inherited from the Soviet arsenal reduces logistical pressure and allows the operational pace to be maintained, even if it is at the cost of saturating the terrain with explosives and accept levels of destruction and danger that turn the front into an increasingly more hostile and uncontrollableboth during the war and in the future. TM-62 When the engines disappear. That same exhaustion explains the return of the animals, one more timeto the Russian front, first as a logistical solution and then as combat toolin a process that is reminiscent of the last stages of great industrial wars of the past. The constant loss of armored vehicles, trucks, motorcycles and light vehicles, together with maintenance and supply problems, has led to replacing engines by animal tractionsomething that is not due to any military romanticism, of course, but rather to the need to move men and material when modern media are no longer available in sufficient quantity. A Russian cavalryman seen through the thermal imaging camera of a drone The return of the cavalry. The most extreme step of this logic has been the reappearance of cavalry chargesan image that seemed banished from the war imagination for some time. more than a century and now it reappears in real videos from the front. Far from being an effective tactic, these charges reflect a desperate improvisationin which an attempt is made to cross areas hit by drones with means that do not generate thermal signatures or depend on fuel, but that lack any protection against an enemy that controls the air almost permanently. Horses like white. Thus, in an environment where any movement is detected from kilometers away, horses have become easy targets for FPV drones, with images showing animals and riders jumping through the air hit by direct explosions, a real bleeding illustrating the brutal clash between 19th century tactics and a battlefield dominated by flying robots. Even when operators attempt to minimize damage to mounts, the reality is that the use of cavalry exposes to animals and soldiers to almost certain death, without providing real tactical advantages. Propaganda distortion. While these scenes are repeated, the Russian media sympathetic to the Kremlin have presented as examples of ingenuity and adaptation, wrapping scarcity in an epic discourse that avoids talking about losses and results. How they explained in Forbesthis narrative does not seek to convince the adversary, but rather to sustain internal morale and hide the fact that resorting to cavalry is not a brilliant innovation, but rather an unmistakable sign that modern resources are running out and that the war is being fought with what is left at hand. Go back in time. Thus, the combination of soviet mines recycled and cavalry charges draws a portrait of an army that, under Putin’s command, has gone from promising high-intensity mechanized warfare to relying on solutions from previous conflicts to the First World War. In fact, we had seen it previously with Soviet-era tanks. It is not a victory-oriented adaptation, but rather the symptom of a progressive degradation in which each step back in time reflects a loss of material capacity, and in which the price is paid by both soldiers and animals dragged into a war that can no longer advance without looking to the past. Image | WarGonzo, X, Vitaly V. Kuzmin In Xataka | First it was Finland, now the US has confirmed it: when the war in Ukraine ends, Russia has a plan for Europe In Xataka | If the question is what a drone from Ukraine is doing 2,000 km from your home, the answer is simple: take the war to the Mediterranean

A Russian family lived isolated in Siberia for more than 40 years. He didn’t know about World War II or the space race.

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In the cold, vast and desolate siberian taiga one would expect to find spruce trees, maples, streams and acres covered in frozen silt. Maybe (hopefully) some lone pso or wolf. What no one would include on that list is what he discovered around mid 1978 an expedition that flew over a mountain located more than 240 km from any human trace. There, in the middle of the Abakan mountain rangea group of geologists came across a family that had been isolated for 42 years. Its story still fascinates today. And that cabin? Such a question must have been asked 47 years ago by a group of Soviet geologists flying over the Siberian taiga, an area rich in oil, gas and mineral reserves. He ran summer of 1978 and the team, led by Galina Pismenskaya, was traveling by helicopter in a region of Siberia located 160 km from the border with Mongolia when the pilot saw something between the trees. Something unexpected. A rudimentary cabin with a small garden. In most parts of the planet, such an image would be of little interest, but Pismenskaya’s team was supposedly in an unpopulated area. In fact, the Soviet authorities were not aware that anyone lived there. The nearest houses were supposed to be more than 200 kilometers away, so the question was obvious… What the hell was that shack doing there, built next to a stream, among trees? They were so intrigued that geologists decided to land. “We come to visit”. The impressions of Pismenskaya and her colleagues when approaching the hut we know them thanks to Vasily Peskova Russian journalist and traveler who would later interview the protagonists of that story to collect it in a book. Upon landing, the researchers found a hut made with the little that the taiga offered: bark, branches, trunks and pieces of wood blackened by humidity. On one side there was a tiny window. On the other side there was a door through which an old man appeared. “Like something out of a fairy tale”, would relate some time later Pismenskaya, who recalled that the man was barefoot, was wearing a patched shirt and pants and sported a scraggly beard. “He seemed scared. We had to say something, so I started: ‘Greetings, Grandpa! We’ve come to see you.’” The fact is that that old man was not alone. When they entered the hut with him, the geologists discovered that he lived with his four children. They all shared that wooden construction without rooms, blackened by smoke, cold and with the floor covered in shells. Upon seeing the new arrivals, one of the young women began to pray, scared. Another, hidden behind a post, ended up collapsing from suffocation. Logical. The family had not seen another human for four decades. Dating back to 1936. The old man in question was called Karp Osipovich Lykov and the fact that he lived there, in conditions almost medieval people, hundreds of kilometers from any hint of civilization and surrounded only by his children, is explained in light of what happened in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Just like his Karp family was an old believera member of a church split from Orthodox Christianity that embraced the ancient liturgy and ecclesiastical canons. The path of Karp’s coreligionists had diverged from the Russian Orthodox already in the 17th century, after Nikon’s reformwhich made them outcasts. This had happened in times of Peter I…and with the Bolsheviks. This harassment affected the Lykov family directly. Around 1936, a patrol shot his brother on the outskirts of the village where they lived, so Karp made a radical decision: he gathered his wife Akulina and the two children they had at the time (Savin, nine years old, and Natalia, two) and escaped into the forest. Literally. He walked away as far as he could. Without looking back and with light luggage that included just a handful of seeds, a rudimentary spinning wheel, a couple of jugs to boil water and the clothes they were wearing. Once in the taiga, the family built a cabin with what they had on hand, set up a garden and continued with a life marked by isolation, their beliefs and deprivation. In 1940 the couple had their third son, Dmitry; and four years later the fourth and last daughter, Agafia, was born. Back to history. The Lykovs continued with that life until Osipovich’s helicopter located them in the summer of 1978. It may sound strange, but the family had settled in a particularly inhospitable place. No one saw them before because no one looked there. The marriage moved as he encountered difficulties, moving further and further away from the villages and towns, until settling at a point located more than 240 km of the nearest settlement. Not even the Soviet authorities were aware of the existence of that family. The consequences of that isolation are obvious. For the Lykovs, time, politics, science… stopped dead in 1936. The family did not know that Europe had been shaken by World War II, nor that man had stepped on the Moon in 1969, nor was it aware of the space race, the name Kennedy or the Beatles did not ring a bell… Some family members marveled at seeing a television or items as seemingly simple as matches or a roll of transparent cellophane. Fascinating yes, bucolic no. The Lykovs’ 42 years of isolation were, however, hardly bucolic. Their cabin was built next to a stream and the forest offered them wood, fruit and even game, but the harsh conditions of the taiga subjected them to a constant test. Especially the first years. Agafia even told how towards the end of the 1950s the family faced their peculiar “years of hunger”, during which they had to decide whether to eat the little they harvested or save some of the seeds to grow them the following year. “We were hungry all the time,” he admits. Years later the family suffered a frost … Read more

Ukraine has asked Russia if they stop for Christmas like in the First World War. The answer could not have been more Russian

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The inevitable reference when talking about a Christmas break in the middle of a conflict is the spontaneous truce December 1914in the first months of the First World War. On several sectors of the Western Front, British and German soldiers left the trenches, exchanged cigarettes, sang Christmas carols and even played football in no man’s land. Ukraine has remembered it, but it is going to be complicated. The first time. On that occasion of the First World War, the truce was not ordered by the commanders nor was it part of a political negotiation: came from belowof human exhaustion in the face of a war that had not yet shown all its industrial brutality. Precisely for this reason it was never repeated. The high command considered it dangerous, subversive and incompatible with a modern total war. Since then, Christmas has been used many times as a rhetorical symbol of peace, but almost never as an actual interruption of fighting. The Ukrainian proposal. In this historical context full of symbolism, Ukraine has raised the possibility of a ceasefire during Christmas, an idea carefully formulated so as not to appear as a disguised surrender. Zelensky has spoken of a specific pauseespecially linked to attacks against energy infrastructure, at a critical time of winter and with the civilian population as the main collateral victim. At the same time, kyiv is preparing a new package of peace proposals backed by European partners and channeled through the United States, with the expectation that Washington will offer top-level security guarantees if Moscow rejects the plan. Zelensky, however, has shown caution and has lowered any expectations of a quick deal, publicly assuming that Russia may choose to continue the war and that, in that case, Ukraine will ask for more sanctions and more weapons. Officers and men of the 26th Division Ammunition Train playing football at Salonica, Greece, on Christmas Day 1915 The Russian response. The Kremlin’s reaction to the “Christmas break” has been immediate and bluntalmost ritual in its formulation. Dmitri Peskov has discarded any temporary ceasefire, including a Christmas truce, with an argument that Moscow has been repeating for months: a pause would only serve for Ukraine to regroup, rearm and prolong the conflict. In official Russian language, the word “truce” is presented like a trapwhile the word “peace” is reserved for a scenario in which Russia has achieved all your strategic objectives. According to Peskov, Moscow is not ready to replace a comprehensive negotiation (in their own terms) for “momentary and non-viable” solutions. The logic is clear and brutal: either the Russian framework of political and territorial victory is accepted, or the war continues without sentimental interruptions. Territory, guarantees and red lines. Behind the exchange of statements lies the real core of the conflict. Russia demands that Ukraine rspread to wide areas of its territory, accept permanent limits on its armed forces and rule out any future accession to NATO. Ukraine, for its part, rejects hand over the Donbaseven under ambiguous formulas such as a supposed demilitarized “free economic zone,” and remembers that it was already betrayed once when it renounced its nuclear arsenal in 1994 in exchange for security guarantees that did not prevent the invasion. Polls show that a clear majority of Ukrainian society opposes withdrawing from the east and is willing to continue fighting, a domestic factor that greatly limits Zelensky’s political margin even as international pressure increases. Christmas without miracles. The proposal for a Christmas break actually exposes the abysmal distance between the war that we evoke in historical memory and the war that is being fought today. In 1914an improvised truce was possible because the soldiers still saw each other as human beings confronted by accident. In 2025, the war in Ukraine is a conflict of objectives strategic, existential red lines and cold calculation of power, where each day of pause is measured in kilometers of front, ammunition reserves and operational advantages. The Russian response dry and distrustfulis not only “very Russian”: it is confirmation that, in this war, Christmas has no capacity to suspend the logic of the conflict. Unlike more than a century agothere is no room for carols between the trenches, only for official statements that remind that, for Moscow, peace does not begin with a truce, but with the political defeat of the adversary. Image | RawPixel, WikiCommons, Ariel Varges In Xataka | 24 hours later, satellite images leave no doubt: a Ukrainian underwater drone has changed the future of wars In Xataka | Drums of peace sound in Ukraine. And that should be a good thing for Europe… unless Finland is right

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