Russian

A Russian submarine has appeared off the coast of France. And Europe’s reaction has been surprising: have a laugh

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August 2025. After learning through satellite images that the Russian nuclear submarine base had been was damaged After an earthquake, Ukraine leaked all the secrets of Moscow’s most advanced submarine, including its failures. Now, two months later, one of them has appeared off the coast of France. And, instead of fear, Europe has been amused. The silence broken. For days, NATO radars followed the strange figure of a Russian submarine that, instead of slipping secretly under the sea, clumsily advanced on the surface. Was Novorossiyska Kilo-class diesel-electric of the Black Sea Fleet, one of the few assets that still maintained Moscow’s flag in the Mediterranean. His march was slow and visible, accompanied by French, British and Dutch ships that escorted him with the same mix of caution and curiosity with which an injured animal is observed. For the Atlantic Alliance, that voyage was more than just a naval anomaly: it was a exhaustion signa reflection of what remains of Russian maritime power after three and a half years of war, sanctions and irreparable losses. Adrift. The official Moscow version It was immediate. According to the Black Sea Fleet, the Novorossiysk was sailing on the surface simply to comply with international standards when crossing the English Channel. But allied intelligence reports and leaks on Russian security channels painted a different picture: a damaged submarine, with a possible fuel leak, forced to surface repeatedly and, according to some reportseven to empty flooded compartments. The presence of a tugboat, he Yakov Grebelskiyreinforced that suspicion. For NATO commanders, the image of an attack ship “limping” toward its base was not only a metaphor for a technical breakdown, but the demonstration how Russian naval machinery is rusting in the eyes of the world. From Tartus to the Mediterranean. Until a few years ago, Russia maintained a permanent force in the Mediterranean, anchored in the Syrian base of Tartusits strategic bastion in the region. From there it projected power towards the Middle East and North Africa, protecting energy routes and monitoring Western transit. But the fall of the regime of Bashar al Assad in 2024 erased that balance in one fell swoop. With the new Syrian government, Moscow lost its last platform safe outside the Black Sea. Today, how he ironized NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, “there is hardly any Russian presence left in the Mediterranean: just a lonely, broken submarine returning from patrol.” The decline is not measured in the number of sunken ships, but in the disappearance of an entire naval projection doctrine. The laughs. In his speech at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Slovenia, Rutte was so precise as biting. “What a change from Tom Clancy’s novel The Hunt for Red October, he said. Today, more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic.” The phrase, celebrated among the attendees, synthesized the new allied narrative: humor and joke as a language of power. Making fun of your opponent, taking away the mystique of their strength, is also a way of undermining their influence. Behind the irony, however, there was a geopolitical calculation. Rutte remembered the multiple Russian provocations in the last few months (drones over Europe, sabotage of underwater cables, failed plots, cyber attacks and instability in Finland and Poland), and warned that Moscow retains the capacity to inconvenience, although its military muscle has been reduced to symbolic gestures and worn-out threats. The invisible collapse. The Novorossiysk debacle It is not an isolated case. Since 2022, Ukraine has managed to destroy or disable more than thirty of Russian vessels with anti-ship missiles and marine drones. The losses have forced the Kremlin to withdraw a large part of its fleet from Sevastopol and move it to Novorossiysk, on the eastern coast of the sea, to avoid new attacks. That strategic refuge, paradoxically, bears the same name as the damaged submarine that is now trying to reach it. What was a symbol of supremacy in the Soviet era has become a floating cemetery of incomplete projects and demoralized crews. Mirror of war. If you like, the episode from Novorossiysk transcends the anecdotal. It represents the convergence of all fronts where Russia is wasting away: the military, the economic, the technological and the symbolic. Its fleet, once the second in the world, now depends on units that they age without spare partsas Ukraine innovates with drones that cost a fraction of its missiles. And NATO, aware of this, has learned to transform its silent victories in public stories that erode the perception of Russian invulnerability. The image of Novorossiysk advancing in the sight of everyone, towed and watched, it is the perfect image if you want to degrade an empire that can no longer hide its weaknesses. From shadow to emptiness. In the years of the Cold War, Soviet submarines were the silent terror of the Atlantic. Today, his most visible heir is a damaged ship that sails with the flag raised so as not to sink. This passage from shadow to void explains better than any report the real state of the Russian navy. What was previously feared, is now observed even with sarcasm, and what previously inspired respect, now provokes a mocking headline. In this transit we measure, according to Europe, the decline of a power and the rise of a Western communication strategy that no longer needs to confront directly to win. It is enough to unintentionally let the enemy show his shipwreck. And have a few laughs. Image | BORN In Xataka | Russia’s most advanced nuclear submarine was a secret. Until Ukraine has revealed everything, including its failures In Xataka | A ghost fleet has mapped the entire underwater structure of the EU. The question is what Moscow is going to do with that information.

Europe has found the antidote to Russian drones. So demand for a 100-year-old gun has skyrocketed.

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The war in Ukraine has become an immense laboratory for new war technologies, but it has also reminded us that beyond the sophistication of modern artillery, the experience of the past remains a weapon as powerful as any missile. we have seen optical illusionsthe return of the horses or weapons 1940’s vintage. In fact, Europe is arming itself against Russia’s hybrid war with a 100-year-old weapon. The resurgence of a legend. The war in Ukraine has returned a veteran of more than a century to the front line: the M2 heavy machine gun Browning, symbol of 20th century war engineering and now a key piece in the arsenal of modern armies. Designed in 1921 by John Moses Browning and mass produced during World War II, the M2 (capable of firing .50 caliber projectiles at a rate of up to 600 rounds per minute) has once again proven indispensable, especially on the Ukrainian front, where it is used on civilian trucks to shoot down Russian Shahed drones. Its mechanical simplicity, extreme reliability and devastating power have made it a weapon with no direct substitute, and its use has contributed to a surge in global demand reminiscent of the most intense years of the Cold War. Industrial boom. The rebirth of this icon runs parallel to the FN Browning expansionthe historic Belgian firm that from its headquarters in Herstal manufactures not only the M2, but also the FN MAG and FN Minimi (known in the United States as M240 and M249) along with FN SCAR rifles and ammunition of standard NATO calibers. After decades of relative calm, its production of machine guns has been doubled compared to 2022, and the demand for ammunition has quadrupled. Although the company does not sell directly to Ukraine, its contracts with allies such as the United States, the United Kingdom or France have grown exponentially. France, for example, has recovered thousands of M2s abandoned by US troops in 1945 for FN to modernize and return them to service with “like new” guarantees. The conflict has revived interest not only in new generation weapons, but also in those that have proven to be reliable under any circumstances. Economy of rearmament. The war has awakened a cycle of massive rearmament in Europe, with more than 930,000 million of dollars committed through 2030, and FN Browning has become one of the epicenters of this military reindustrialization. Despite a stable business volume (1.3 billion euros in 2024, after the acquisition of the ammunition producer Sofisport), the company is expanding its workforce and increasing the production of weapons and ammunition by thousands of units annually. The stagnation of its sports division, which flourished during the pandemic, contrasts with the avalanche of state contracts that consolidate its strategic role within the European defense ecosystem. The machine gun market, relegated for years, is experiencing a second youth marked by the urgency of replenishing depleted arsenals after the massive shipment of weapons to Ukraine and the perception of a persistent Russian threat. Classic weapons, modern warfare. The Ukrainian conflict has shown that even in the era of artificial intelligence and drone swarms, classically designed weapons still play a critical role. The M2 they have adapted to unmanned ground platforms and remote stations controlled by AI to improve precision in the fight against drones. F. N. Browning collaborates with technology firms to integrate automatic target recognition systems into their turrets, anticipating a convergence between mechanical tradition and algorithmic warfare. At the same time, European militaries, after decades of disinvestment, are faced with the need to rebuild their heavy fire capabilities from the ground up. From the past to the future. The longevity of the M2 It is a testament not only to its design, but also to a cyclical military reality: modern wars continue to depend on the reliability of steel and gunpowder. From the beaches of Normandy to the fields of Donetsk, this machine gun has accompanied Western armies through a century of changing conflicts, and today it once again symbolizes resistance in the face of technological adversity. For FN Browning, the resurgence of its most emblematic weapon marks not only the most active moment since the end of the Cold War, but also the beginning of a new era in which war tradition and digital innovation march, once again, at the same pace. Image | Wikimedia Cominos In Xataka | Europe has decided to take action against Moscow’s hybrid war. So Germany has started hunting for Russian drones In Xataka | “Why don’t we shoot?”: in the face of Russian drone incursions, Ryanair has its own alternative to the European wall

In 1901, Russian explorers found the corpse of a frozen mammoth. What happened to his meat is a mystery

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Although we are trying to bring them backthousands of years ago mammoths disappeared from the face of the Earth. However, for centuries, humans fed on its flesh, created tools with their bones and were protagonists in the stories that were drawn on the walls. Now, although they disappeared about 4,000 years ago, there are stories that claim that less than 100 years ago, there were those who ate mammoth meat. Its flavor? Like a sirloin of the time. Of course, there is quite a bit of ‘sauce’ that masks this culinary story. The Berezovka mammoth. Otto Ferdinandovich Harz was a Russian-German naturalist who, at the beginning of the 20th century, participated in the famous Siberian excavation of 1901 in which the Berezovka mammoth. It is about one of the best preserved specimensif not the best, because he died when he was between 45 and 50 years old in the Permafrost, more than 44,000 years ago. That’s how they found it. The most superficial part, the skull, had been gnawed by wolves, but look at the state of the buried paw The peculiarity. This exposure to extreme temperatures allowed researchers to find a piece in enviable conditions. The wolves had eaten some of the meat, but the carcass was complete and even herbs in its mouth and 12 kilos of food in its stomach were recovered. The conditions allowed us to determine that the skin was a reddish brown color, with curly hair about 50 centimeters long, a 35 centimeter tail, a penis in good condition and a layer of fat nine centimeters thick, key to withstanding low temperatures. The size? 2.8 meters high by just over four meters long. Reconstruction of the mammoth at the time of its death “Appetizing“Unearthing the animal was not quick. The researchers set up a tent at the excavation point and got to work. Here we entered turbulent terrain because legends begin. Nobody was there on those cold Siberian nights to see what was being cooked, but there are those who point out that there was mammoth meat in that casserole. Due to the good conservation of the meat, the rumor was that the members of the expedition ate part of the mammoth to last the nights. But there’s a twist: it turns out that although it didn’t look bad, when it thawed, the smell could be nauseating. Even seasoned, it was too much for the human nose and, although jokingly they dared to try it (after a story which points to alcohol consumption as a trigger), it seems that in the end they gave it to the dogs at the camp. The Explorers Club. Another story goes in the opposite direction: after arriving at St. Petersburg Zoological Museumwhere you can see both the remains and a faithful representation of the mammoth at the time of its death, Otto began to sort through the remains and realized that the meat was of no use. Therefore, he organized a dinner for colleagues. The requirement? That these also carried something from prehistory. Evidence that they ate mammoth meat from 44,000 years ago? None, but the story is good. Same as that of New York Explorers Club. It turns out that, according to legends, the explorers of 1901 were not the only recent humans to have tasted mammoth meat. Founded in 1904, the Explorers Club of New York is a society dedicated to the exploration of land, sea, air and space (more recently, of course). It was created to support exploration exploits and has notable and honored members such as Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Jane Goodall, Richard Garriott either James Cameronamong many others. Part of a room at the ‘Explorers CLub’. Humble. Myth. Anyone who makes a documented and outstanding contribution to scientific knowledge through field expeditions can be a member. Aside from that adventurous spirit, what its members share are annual banquets in which the menu is… exotic. has been eaten polar bear or seal babies (to comment on this), but also crocodile tail, caramelized yak and a large number of insects fried, in quesadillas, baked, or in dessert form. What if they didn’t eat dodo? It’s because there wasn’t, wow. Dinner at the club What they are said to have eaten was mammoth: woolly mammoth discovered in Alaska. Supposedly, it was Roosevelt and Armstrong who, at the 1951 dinner, tasted this ancient meat. They were going to eat meat megatheriumwhich was a kind of enormous sloth, but it seems that a misinterpretation by a magazine that covered the dinner led them to think that “megaterium” was another term for “mammoth”, so it went down in history as, that day, they ate mammoth at the prestigious event. The turn. It turns out, and here comes the twist, that a member of the club was not going to be able to attend and asked that they give him his portion in a jar so he could keep it. He put “megatherium meat” and took it to the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. He left it there, but fate wanted it to end up at the Peabody Museum of Natural History and, in 2014, some researchers performed DNA tests to see what the hell it was. It didn’t matter if it was a mammoth: the fact that in 1951 they had had megatherium for dinner would still be just as impressive. Well, neither a mammoth… nor a giant sloth: the analysis showed that it was turtle meat. And not a Pleistocene turtle, but a green sea turtle that, yes, is protected and in danger of extinction, but not extinct. The mammoth meatball. Legend pointed to this similarity between the modern sirloin and mammoth meat, but in the absence of documents, it seems that any consumption of mammoth in the last 4,000 years is difficult to believe. What is known is that, in 1979, a paleontologist who discovered a bison from 50,000 years ago He couldn’t resist the temptation of making a good stew with its meat. It wouldn’t smell … Read more

Europe has been working for three years to isolate itself from Russian gas. Two countries have decided to build a direct gas pipeline to Russia

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The European energy map is changing at a speed that few would have imagined just three years ago. The old gas pipelines that linked Siberia to the industrial heart of the EU have been sidelined, while new routes and alliances reconfigure the power table around gas. The old continent proclaims its purpose of isolating Moscow, but in the center of the continent it is drawn an exception that alters the planned script and that may change the balance of forces in the coming winters. A map in transformation. Yes, the European gas map has changed radically in a few years, to the point that this winter of 2025 is the first in decades in which Russian gas ceases to be decisive throughout the European Union. After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the energy crisis that broke out between 2021 and 2023, Brussels urged urgently diversification of supplies, relying on imports liquefied natural gas (LNG), especially from the United States and Qatar, and in the fortress of norway as a stable partner. The great gas pipelines that for half a century linked the Siberian fields with the European industrial heart have been underutilizeddamaged or reduced to a secondary role, as energy security moves towards the global balance of the LNG market and towards the vulnerability of infrastructures increasingly exposed to cyber attacks and hybrid incidents. On this new board, each molecule counts, but not all of them weigh the same: there are some that define true European autonomy more than others. The two exceptions. Despite the EU’s declared desire to eliminate purchases from Moscow, two countries have kept the valve open: Hungary and Slovakia. In August 2025, according to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, both added imports of Russian crude oil and gas by more than 690 million of euros, that is, the majority of the European total. In fact, they continue to receive oil through the gigantic Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukraine and Belarus from Russian fields to Central Europe, and have used temporary exception granted by Brussels to landlocked countries to justify their dependence. The contrast is evident: while countries like France, the Netherlands and Belgium have limited themselves to importing residual Russian LNG, Budapest and Bratislava continue buying crude oil and gas straight from Moscow, keeping alive the energy artery that the rest of Europe has tried to close. Hungary and Slovakia are investing in gas infrastructure and creating a gas block in the heart of Europe aimed at protecting against any risks USA, Brussels and pressure. The intransigence of Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico has not gone unnoticed. At the UN, Trump accused Europe of “financing the war against itself” and pointed out with their own name to the Central European partners that do business with the Kremlin. Brussels, for its part, debate sanctions growing: the nineteenth package included a ban on Russian LNG starting in 2026 and restrictions on giants such as Rosneft or Gazprom Neft, although it avoided imposing immediate vetoes on crude oil and gas by gas pipeline, fearing a head-on crash with Budapest and Bratislava. However, the Commission is already preparing specific tariffs against imports that are still They arrive through Druzhbaand requires all Member States to submit disconnection plans before 2027the year in which the final cut is expected. The discourse of dependency. Hungary insists that its economy would fall 4% immediately if they were closed russian flowsand both Orbán and Fico speak of “economic suicide” and “ideological impositions” from Brussels. However, experts and analysts dismantle many of these arguments: geography is no excuse in an integrated European market where other equally landlocked countries, such as Austria or the Czech Republic, have reduced drastically reduce its Russian imports. Alternative infrastructures there are. The Adria pipeline, which connects to the Adriatic in Croatia, could supply enough crude oil to Hungary and Slovakia, although the reliability of its capacity tests is disputed. The Croatian oil company JANAF itself assures which can supply both refineries (Százhalombatta in Hungary and Slovnaft in Bratislava) with up to 12.9 million tons per year. In gas, the interconnections with neighboring countries and the expected abundance of LNG after 2026 suggest that the cutoff of Russian flows would be more political than technical. Politics, benefits and a shadow. Budapest’s stubbornness also has an internal political and economic dimension. The MOL company, close to the Orbán Government and owner of the Slovak refinery, has reaped huge benefits thanks to the price difference between Russian Urals crude oil and Brent, which has allowed extraordinary income for both the company and the state budget itself through taxes. In parallel, the speech of the Hungarian Executive associates the continuity of supply russian with stability of its star program of subsidies on household energy bills, despite the fact that the prices that Budapest pays for Russian gas follow the same international references as for the rest of Europe. In Slovakia, Fico also protects contracts with Gazprom valid until 2034, although the national company SPP itself has flexible agreements with large Western companies that would allow demand to be met without Moscow. The new axis of the Black Sea. Be that as it may, the most revealing element of the new energy map is that Hungary and Slovakia not only resist cutting the Russian gas pipelines inherited from the Cold War, but are betting on new connections. The route that arrives through the TurkStream and enters from Türkiye towards central Europe through the Black Sea consolidates a direct link with Moscow at the same time that Brussels seeks to isolate it. Paradoxically, the two Central European countries are becoming the main russian corridor towards the heart of the EU, a role that openly contradicts the energy autonomy strategy and reinforces the structural dependence on a partner considered hostile. Europe contradicts itself. The dilemma is obvious. The European Union proclaims its purpose to end with Russian imports in just two years, but at the same time tolerates exceptions that feed … Read more

Europe has decided to take action against Moscow’s hybrid war. So Germany has started hunting for Russian drones

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Which started as a succession of technical incidents and contradictory testimonies did not take long to shake the governments of the old continent, mobilizing ships and planes, and forcing Berlin to rewrite the rules about when and how something floating above our heads can be knocked down. On that invisible chessboard there was a question that everyone avoided answering: who really presses the button that launches these devices, and for what purpose? Now, Germany and the rest of Europe seem to agree. The invisible front. we have been counting. Europe has entered an unprecedented phase of aerial vulnerability. In just a few months, a wave of incursions by unidentified drones (some over airports, industrial plants and strategic centers) has forced the closure of airspace, diverting flights and putting on alert to the forces navies of several countries. In Germany, air traffic disruptions have been multiplied by 33% in a single year, and what began as a succession of isolated incidents has become a continental phenomenon that many attribute to a hybrid offensive orchestrated by Russia. And more. These raids, without constituting a formal act of war, are part of a destabilization strategy broader that combines cyberattacks, sabotage and technological intimidation to gauge NATO’s reaction and test European response capacity without crossing the threshold of direct confrontation. Germany changes doctrine. Until recently, German authorities were limited to detecting drones, without being able to intervene on them. However, the magnitude of the raids (which forced even at closing of Munich airport and left thousands of passengers stranded) has forced a legal change of enormous significance. The Government of Friedrich Merz has approved a bill authorizing the federal police to shoot down drones that violate German airspace or represent an immediate danger, using everything from kinetic shots to laser weapons and electronic jamming systems. It is not a trivial topic. It is about the first modification of the police law since 1994, and its parliamentary approval will place Germany at the level from France, the United Kingdom, Lithuania and Romaniacountries that already allow the active neutralization of unmanned aircraft. The Executive has also announced the creation of a national anti-drone unit that will be in charge of neutralizing low-altitude devices, while those with greater power will remain under military jurisdiction. Between safety and climbing. The approval of this law reflects a dilemma that crosses all of Europe: how to respond to Russian hybrid aggression without provoking an escalation of war. Chancellor Merz himself has acknowledged that many of the intercepted aircraft appear to be carrying out reconnaissance flights, without weapons, but with clear strategic intentions. At the same time, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has underlined that operations in urban environments must be governed by the principle of proportionality to avoid collateral damage. Fear that a misidentification could lead to a diplomatic or military incident keeps security forces on edge. a constant balance between firmness and prudence. Meanwhile, Germany modernizes its defense with systems such as the Rheinmetall Skyrangerdesigned to neutralize swarms of drones in the middle of a hybrid war, and strengthens its coordination with NATO in the face of the risk that the technological frontier will also become a political frontier. The risk of the “gray zone”. Recent incidents in Poland, Estonia and Romania (where Russian drones and MiG-31 fighters have violated allied airspace) have prompted NATO to review its rules of engagement. Countries bordering Russia, backed by France and the United Kingdom, have proposed more aggressive measures: allow pilots to open fire without visual confirmation, arm surveillance drones and carry out military exercises on the same border line. Although some allies advocate containment to avoid a direct clash with a nuclear power, others maintain that the only effective deterrence is the visible action. Washington has pushed to relax response rules and even has suggested that the Alliance should “shoot Russian planes” that enter its airspace. In other words, the debate has revealed the tension between European caution and the American desire to regain the initiative against Moscow, in a context in which the war in Ukraine and Russian aerial provocations threaten to overflow the limits of conventional war. Europe and the air shield. The idea we count recently. While NATO refines its protocols, the European Union is trying to strengthen its autonomous capacity against hybrid attacks. The president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has proposed lifting that “drone wall”a network of sensors, radars and weapons that protects the eastern flank of the continent. Brussels is also preparing sanctions and restrictions to the movement of Russian diplomats suspected of directing sabotage operations, while allocating community funds to finance anti-drone systems in airports, ports and power plants. The initiative seeks not only to reinforce physical security, but also to respond politically to the Russian attempt to sow division within the EU. “Russia wants to divide us; we must respond with unity,” has warned von der Leyen, stressing that defense against gray war cannot be limited to reacting, but must focus on active deterrence. Europe in transformation. The drone challenge has forced Europe to recognize that 21st century war is not fought only with tanks and missiles, but also with algorithmsautonomous swarms and information saturation. The German law authorizes the demolition of unmanned aircraft, military coordination of NATO on the eastern flank and the new European strategy air defense They are part of the same response: that of a continent that adapts to an enemy that does not always show itself. In the diffuse space of the hybrid warwhere a civilian drone can become a strategic weapon and a cyber attack an act of war, the border between peace and conflict has become more blurred than ever. Germany, the industrial and political epicenter of the old continent, seems to have understood that security is no longer measured in battles, but in reaction seconds. And as the Ukraine war redefines the global balance of power, Europe rehearses its own defensive revival: a forced transition from pacifism to pragmatism, in which each downed … Read more

Before the incursions of Russian drones, Ryanair has its own alternative to the European wall

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“Why are we not shooting these drones?” The question is from Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair. The mandamás of the Air Company verbalized its doubts about the performance of the European Union in an interview with Political. According to its point of view, Europe faces an air navigation problem derived from war in Ukraine. A problem that, according to O’Leary, should not be consent. It is not a security problem. It is a business problem, according to Ryanair CEO. To this aimed the first statements of O’Leary in which the closure of Polish airports echoed as a result of A Russian Airspace Invasion of the country. “There is a risk of continuous interruption, not security,” O’Leary said in words collected by Reuters. While Europe discussed what can be done in these cases, how to act and evaluate the danger of these incursions, from Ryanair they pointed to direct damage to their business. Hybrid war. Is The concept to define those attacks that seek the destabilization of a country and that do not necessarily have to be violent. The intention is for citizens to lose confidence in their leaders either by a feeling of helplessness or because basic services does not work. In the case of the Ukraine War, Russia has been enough to enter the Polish airspace to paralyze its airports. Danish bases They were also paralyzed. The same happened in Oslo and the last to know the effects has been the Munich airport. In addition a cyber attack left unusable or diminished for days the airports of Berlin, Brussels and London-Heathrow. A wall. The solution that has been proposed is to raise a wall in Europe. One that has no concrete or, in fact, is visible. The European Commissioner for Defense, Andrius Kubilius, opted for lift a wall of drones that protects the entire European Union. The intention is very simple: surround the entire European Union of a drone detection and inhibition system. With him we want Russian devices not attacking European space but that they cannot interfere with the daily activities of citizens. “It’s useless”. Given this idea, O’Leary has signed up for the most absolute disbelief. Of Ursula von der Leyen assured Political that “it is useless and should resign.” To recreate with a “I have no faith in European leaders, sitting there drinking tea and eating cookies.” In his day, O’Leary opted for a British permanence in the European Union but its Shocks with politicians of every sign They have been constant. The CEO of Ryanair is part of those unbelievable businessmen of politics that, in the case of the Irishman, has an invariable constant in time: If it’s bad for the business, it is criticizable. The business. According to O’Leary, the real problem of that European antidron wall is that it would not be worthless: “I don’t think a wall of drones has any effect. Do you think the Russians cannot launch a drone from within Poland?” And I set an example: “If you can’t even protect flights on France, what are the possibility of protecting us against Russia?” This criticism referred to the French strike of aerial controllers that threatens to affect more than 100,000 passengers and 600 flights Ryanair alone. And we could continue with the criticism of the Government of Spain by the Aerial rates and The fine for the collection of hand luggage. And the impact? In economic terms, there is no clear data of how much money it has been lost with Russian incursions in European airspace. What is certain is that the inconveniences of this type of activity are palpable. Only in the last sighting in Germany of drones, 23 flights to Munich have had to be divertedanother 12 have been canceled and there are more than 6,500 affected passengers. It is estimated that during the closure of the Danish and Swedish airports, Other 100 flights They also had to be canceled. And in Brussels more than 140 flights were canceled during the cyber attack of a few weeks ago. Photo | Markus Winkler and State Border Guard Service of Ukraine In Xataka | Ryanair’s paradox in Spain: while drowning small airports, he is adding 100,000 more places

The greatest attack of Ukraine on Russian soil discovered a new threat with drones. China has just multiply it

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In 2024, Ukraine managed to enter trucks disguised as mobile houses in Russian terrain. It was the origin of what happened in June 2025, when The Spiderweb operation It was activated giving rise to kyiv’s greatest attack on Moscow since the beginning of the invasion in Ukraine. The offensive also staged the Future of the contests. China has taken another step in that threat marked by drones. Show converted into threat. They told them Analysts at The War Zone. China, through the company Damodahas presented a containerized system designed in principle for light shows with drones, but whose concept reveals deep military implications. The Automated Drone Swarm Container System is capable to display and recover Hundreds (potentially thousands) of small grid drones automatically, in a matter of minutes and with a single operator. Although the declared objective is entertainment, the system encapsulates the logic of how a simple container can be transformed into a portable swarm launcher with capacity of saturating skies and objectives at will. What today is a viral show on social networks, tomorrow can be a devastating weapon on the battlefield. From Guinness to War. Damoda already holds the world record with More than 11,000 drones in simultaneous flight in a coordinated show. Now, with this modular system of extensible racks, each container can accommodate At least 648 dronesready to take off and land synchronized. Drones automatically return to their positions and recover in the system itself, which It allows constant repetition With minimal human intervention. The promise for the civil market is speed, portability and cost reduction, but from the military perspective what is shown is the ability to convert a truck or a container into a force multiplier, camouflaged in an innocuous appearance. The precedents. The most immediate parallelism is found in the Ukraine War. As we said at the beginning, in mid -2024, kyiv carried out the call Spiderweb Operationwhere hidden containers as sheds or mobile houses were used as undercover kamikaze drones. Those attacks against aerodromes inside Russia They damaged or destroyed dozens of aircraft, including strategic long -range bombers. The blow was so serious that the Pentagon estimates the loss of at least ten of these devices. Something similar It happened in the Middle Eastwhen Israeli commands used covert structures to launch drones and missiles against goals in Iran during the beginning of the twelve -day war. Both operations show that the container, the most banal and ubiquitous infrastructure of global trade can become A lethal vector of power projection. The military potential. If civil design is extrapolated to the war, the concept is transformed into A swarm weapon low cost with saturation effects. Several trucks equipped with these containers could simultaneously launch hundreds or thousands of drones with diverse missions: from exploration and recognition to electronic warfare, interference of radars or kinetic attacks with small explosive loads. It would be enough Reduced number of systems To sweep an air base, disable radars or cover an urban front with lethal swarm. Its deployment in scenarios where the control lines are diffuse, such as cities in war, would allow devastating and almost impossible to stop with traditional defenses. The defense challenge. The difficulty in repelling a massive attack of swarms is multiplied with each advance in Autonomy and artificial intelligence. A swarm with the ability to Autonomous search and destruction It could penetrate shegars, hangars or buildings in search of objectives, exceeding the limitations of preprogrammed attacks. Let’s think that conventional anti -aircraft systems, designed to intercept specific threats, are overwhelmed in front of hundreds of simultaneous drones. The directed energy weapons, like lasers or microwaveThey offer partial but limited solutions by scope, direction and power. One of the few effective alternatives is to respond with another defensive swarm of interceptor drones, capable of creating a mobile barrier in the sky. Even so, cost-efficacy asymmetry plays in favor of the attacker: while an interceptor missile It can cost millionseach suicide drone barely reaches some thousands of dollars. Representation of a container launch system for the Merodeo ammunition of the Hero family of the German contractor Rheinmetall, as another example of a relevant concept that has previously been shown A show in the contest. The great risk is that what is now deployed as a cultural or tourist show can be transformed With hardly modifications In a gun of war. The camouflage, a priori, is perfect: a load container standard, transported by train, truck or ship, does not raise suspicions until, in minutes, it becomes A lethal swarm. This multiplies the strategic challenge for air bases, ports and cities close to the front, where a single infiltrated container could inflict damage comparable to that of a cruise missile sap. In wars where surprise and saturation are key, this kind of “drone box” emerges as the contemporary equivalent of an unpublished intelligent cluster bomb and precision. Global threat in buds. The truth is that China is not the only country in Explore this land. Defense companies and contractors In the United States And Europe also work in similar conceptssome even thought for naval pitchers. The debate in the US Navy already proposes to install containerized swarms In ships for defense and attack, which shows the inevitability of this transition. The Chinese precedent and the war in Ukraine indicate that the next future of the Air War is not only in the great seasons of sixth generation or in hypersonic missiles, but in low -cost swarms capable of overflowing any defense. The paradox. The Automated Drone Swarm Container System of Damoda It is officially a civil product to illuminate the skies in celebrations. But what projects, beyond its luminous choreographies, is a disturbing mirror of the future of war. Each viral show is at the same time, An essay From what can happen on the battlefield: the replacement of the power concentrated by distributed saturation, the replacement of the missile of millions with hundreds of low -cost drones, the transit of the technological war to … Read more

An AIM-9X missile cost a million dollars to tear down a Russian drone. Ukraine has found the solution for 2,000 dollars

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For Moscow, the Shahed drones They have been a cheap and scalable resource to wear out the Ukrainian defenses, first thrown into small batches and later in waves at greater heightoutside the reach of machine guns and cannons. For kyiv, the challenge has been not only to neutralize those swarms, but do it Without ruined: Each Shahed forced to shoot missile prices missiles, a long -term ruinous equation. This cost asymmetry forced Ukraine to accelerate innovation giving rise to a new air defense paradigm. The birth of something new. In the heavens of Ukraine an unexpected weapon has emerged against the incessant waves of Russian drones: the low cost interceptors Designed in Kyiv. Among them stand out The stinga projectile quadcopter capable of exceeding 315 km/hyred to destroy shaheds and gerberas in flight. Its tiny silhouette and acute sound contrast with the great traditional anti -aircraft systems, and their initial success (with hundreds of enemy drones demolished in a few months) demonstrates that it is possible to neutralize mass threats with fast and cheap solutions. Companies Like Wild Hornetsin collaboration with the Brave1 government platformThey have turned accelerated innovation into the country’s aerial survival axis. The cost war. The great challenge is not just technician, but economic. A Shahed drone costs $ 35,000, while The AIM-9Xused by systems Like Nasams To tear them down, it exceeds million per unit. This imbalance placed Ukraine already its allies in a clear financial disadvantage: each interception was tens of times more expensive than the Russian attack itself. The stinghowever, costs just $ 2,100 and acts as a suicide drone when impacting directly against the objective. The difference is abysmal: by the price of a single AIM-9x they can be manufactured Almost five hundred stinga proportion that explains why Kyiv considers its massive deployment vital to resist bombings of up to 800 drones in a single night. Accelerated innovation. The Ukrainian advantage does not only reside in the unit cost, but in the Radaptation apidity. Each new model responds to the last Russian tactic, either Shaheds to greater altitude, more numerous swarms or reaction versions. Engineers have gone from cannons and machine guns on land interceptors capable of operating partially autonomouslyand even experiences with totally automatic systems that detect, pursue and destroy without direct human intervention. This daily iteration capacity, fueled by the Front feedback, has turned Ukraine into a War laboratory unprecedented aerial. Europe and the lesson. The recent incursion of 21 Russian drones in Poland forced F-35 to deploy that used missiles of very high value to demolish just four devices. The episode has triggered European interest in Ukrainian solutions, which offer A “Drones Wall” much cheaper and scalable than any traditional system. German companies and other countries already Test interceptors Inspired by kyiv, aware that their current defenses are not prepared for cheap and massive waves. For Europe, the lesson is clear: the aerial defense of the future cannot be based on shooting millions from millions against objectives of a few thousand. New paradigm. The irruption of interceptors Like Sting It reflects a paradigm shift. What was previously resolved with very expensive static and arsenal systems now requires flexible, economical and serial solutions. Ukraine, pressured by the urgency of surviving, has made its way Towards a model in which the cost, speed and constant innovation weigh as much as pure technology. If you get displayed Thousands of daily interceptorsnot only will it reinforce its immediate defense, but it will have seated the foundations of a new military approach that will force NATO to rethink their strategy and to abandon the logic of the “Millonada” worn in each missile in front of an enemy that bets on the saturation and wear. Image | Wild Hornets/Telegram In Xataka | In a crucial Ukraine agreement he has given the US his best weapon. In return he has received something unpublished: a map to knock Russia In Xataka | Something has gone out wrong in Ukraine. So much, that the drone war has reached the most unexpected place: Türkiye

One thing is to knock down drones, and another very different and dangerous Russian airplanes. The second option is winning too many followers

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The repeated incursions Russian aerials in NATO territory They have triggered a diplomatic and military escalation that places the Atlantic Alliance against one of its greatest dilemmas since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. First They were dronesand then several MIG-31 fighters next to an IL-20M recognition plane in the Baltic without flight plan. The perception, increasingly widespread in Europe, is very dangerous: the Kremlin seeks to test The allied disposition to respond firmly. The internal debate. They remembered In politician that incidents have caused urgent consultations Under article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, a rarely invoked mechanism that reflects the seriousness of the situation. Estonios, Poles and Czechs have claimed Hard responsesincluding the possibility of demolishing Russian aircraft in future violations. The Czech President Peta Pavel, former NATO Military High Command, affirmed that Moscow must face “military consequences.” In Tallin, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna insisted in which to defend the sky of Estonia is equivalent to defending that of the entire alliance. Instead, figures such as German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni They alert the risk To fall into the “climbing trap” lying by Putin, aware that a demolition could be interpreted as Casus Belli. Parallel messages. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, adopted An unusually overwhelming tone When declaring That “every centimeter of the territory” must be protected and that, after clear warnings, the option of folding an intruder plane “is on the table.” His words resonated With Trump’sthat in the UN General Assembly he affirmed that the “yes” allies should shoot against Russian airplanes if they enter their airspace. The support of the US President was held in Warsaw, where Minister Radosław Sikorski He replied with a laconic “Roger That”. The coincidence of speeches between Brussels and Washington (although von der Leyen has no direct military authority) transmits to Moscow that there is an emerging consensus in favor of harden the rules of the game. A 12 -minute pulse. The most symbolic case was the starring By three mig-31 Russians intercepted by two Italian F-35 in Estonia. During more than ten minutesRussian fighters remained within NATO airspace, an unprecedented duration. The Italians performed the standard interception maneuvers and, surprisingly, the Russian pilots responded With a friendly gesturegreeting from the cabin. Although the meeting concluded without shots, in Tallin and in Brussels a immediate debate: Why didn’t it acted with the same forcefulness as Türkiye in 2015When did a Russian plane tear down in just 17 seconds after a border rape? The difference illustrates the current caution of NATO, trapped between the need to show determination and the fear of an incident that disappoints an uncontrollable escalation. Hybrid ambiguity. The Russian authorities They have denied Deliberate violations and attribute incidents to errors, but at the same time suggest that they respond to Ukrainian attacks in Crimea, which is equivalent to accusing NATO of direct complicity. European diplomats who met with Kremlin say that the Russian delegation He took exhaustive noteswhich reinforces the impression that Moscow uses these incursions as calculated pressure tools. Experts like the Lithuanian president Gypsyėda They point that Russia “is testing our preparation and our solidarity.” In this sense, aerial incursions are part of a hybrid repertoire that includes espionage, cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns and symbolic maneuvers in the Baltic borders, such as balloons and buoys displaced in border rivers. The strategic dilemma. NATO has reinforced surveillance with the operation Eastern Sentry and maintains Eurofighter, F-16 and F-35 fighters deployed in the region, but still lacks clear and homogeneous confrontation rules. The ultimate decision to shoot falls to governments nationals that provide airplanes, which generates a mosaic of interpretations and possible “caveats” that could leave countries as Estonia in vulnerable situation. Meanwhile, Tallin has decided to increase its military expenditure to an average 5.4% of GDP Annual until 2029, a record figure in the alliance, although without acquiring its own fighters, which maintains the dependence of the ally air coverage. On the edge of the red line. In short, the Crossing speeches reflects a paradox: while Voices increase In favor of demolition as immediate response to airspace violations, other leaders remember that Putin could be looking for that incident to legitimize a victimization and victimization narrative Sow divisions internal in NATO. If you want, the situation recalls that the defense of the European sky is no longer a mere exercise of routine interceptions, but A critical front of the ongoing hybrid war. At stake, in addition, there is not only the security of Estonia or Poland, but the credibility of the alliance as guarantor that every centimeter of its territory, in the words of Von der Leyen itself, will continue being inviolable. Image | Fedor Leukhin, Andrey Korchag In Xataka | The war in Ukraine has fired the delays and canceled flights. And Europe has the solution: a drone wall In Xataka | Italy, Germany, Sweden and Finland have done something that seemed unthinkable: throw their fighters in search of Russian airplanes

It is a fantasy created by a Russian television

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Russia has just discovered how to add Anything else More epic to LaLiga. The chain Match! TVin the hands of Gazprom Mediahas decided to promote broadcasts of the Spanish tournament among its users in a peculiar way: with A minute and a half video elaborated with the in which each club is assigned a particular avatar. The models and references to each hobby change, but everyone shares something: large doses of epic that sometimes touch the delusional. Emotion ‘Made in Russia’. What happened? That LaLiga has triggered her epic at new levels with the help of an unexpected ally: Russia. Russia and the artificial intelligence To be precise. As part of its promotion of the Spanish competition the Russian sports chain Match! TV (Матч! Т), owned by Gazprom Mediahe has made a video of a minute and a half with which each club shows in an original way. Instead of including players, stadiums, fans or fragments of matches shows avatars associated with each shield. All with their good dose of epic. Sports Alavés. The Athletic Club of Bilbao. Atlético de Madrid. FC Barcelona. The Betis. Pets ‘Made in Russia’? More or less. In the video you can see how each club has its own avatar, built with winks to the symbols of the equipment or their cities. In many cases the promo pulls directly from club pets. In others it makes a reinterpretation at least curious. For example, Athletic represents it as a lion (expected) With the Guggenheim in the background, in the case of Barça a cat appears (a reference to Cat?) Before the sacred family and when it is the turn of Valencia teaches A bat With the shield. More curious are the cases of Villareal CF, Betis or Celta de Vigo. When it’s the first (Villareal) the video does not show us GROGUETthe pet of the Castellón club, but a new interpretation of the ‘yellow submarine’: a kind of sophisticated diver with a submersible behind. In the case of Betis, a man with leaves appears in the head in an exotic rereading of Palmerín. Even more striking is the case of the Galician club. For Celta, promoted an eagle with the chest shield that raises a sword in the middle of a cliff. Maybe a nod to ‘Nocho’a pet presented in the mid -90s, although more than an eagle was a seagull with Viking helmet. For the Osasuna, the Russian chain imposed on the refiers to the enclosures and in the case of RCD Espanyol preferred not to complicate with (expected too) A huge parakeet. Valencia CF. The Villarreal. The Girona. The RCD Mallorca. The Oviedo FC. The Osasuna. The ray. Real Madrid. Are there more cases? Yes. For Real Oviedo the Russian chain has not opted for the pet Clawbut for a muscular warrior with an ax in his hand, the Vallecano ray is represented by a bee (Pica Pica muscular) and Real Madrid is a straight monarch dressed in white, with a crown and a orb-box in the hands. The Royal Society is a version of the official shield, a ball with a crown and a body (apparently) sculpted in the same gym as the rest of avatars; For Getafe CF a wink is launched to Pachón monkey And a ape with glasses that scribbles on a scroll is chosen and in the case of Elche opts for a modern (and very particular) reinterpretation of the Lady of Elche. In the case of Sevilla, the avatar is a barber with a razor and a ball tattooed in La Calva, the Girona An insect (Sisa?) And Mallorca a Resonated On the beach. Real Sociedad Sevilla. The Celta de Vigo. The Getafe. Elche. Espanyol. The Levante. Have you done it alone with Spain? No. LaLiga’s promotional video is hung on The official profile of Match TV on Instagram, where a similar piece can also be seen with Italian teams. If some avatars surprise in Spain, there is something similar with clubs such as Sassuolo. Both pieces also share two other things: the tone and especially their great, huge, dose of epic. Images | Match TV (Instagram) In Xataka | Al-Andalus and “Territory of Kosovo” teams have played an official football match. All thanks to a mess in networks

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