Russias

Baba Yaga was an old woman who devoured skulls at night. So Ukraine just turned Russia’s worst nightmare into a drone

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In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga She is an ancient figure associated with nocturnal fear, a witch who devours skulls and flies in the dark, punishing the reckless and inhabiting a territory where normal rules no longer apply. It is not a spectacular monster or the usual one, but a persistent presencedisturbing, impossible to ignore. Ukraine remembered it… and transformed it into a drone. The nightmare in war. This symbolic load explains why the name was not born in Ukrainian propaganda, but in the Russian channels themselves: when the soldiers began to describe night attacks that fell almost silently from the sky, the collective imagination did the rest. Today, “Baba Yaga” does not designate a fairy tale creature, but a family heavy bomber drones Ukrainians who have transformed the night of the front into a permanent hostile space for Russian forces. What really is a Baba Yaga. Under that name is grouped an entire class of heavy multicopters, many of them derived of agricultural platforms and others already designed for military purposes, capable of transporting from 15 kilos in their most common versions to several dozen in larger configurations. Unlike the kamikaze FPVs, the Baba Yaga They are reusable systemsconceived as aerial bombers themselves. They can launch mortar mines, fragmentation charges, adapted munitions or even converted anti-tank mines with remarkable accuracy from several hundreds of meters high. Its distinctive feature is not only the load, but the combination of thermal and optical sensors which allows them to operate at night, in fog, rain or wind, and remain effective where light drones begin to fail. This capacity has made them go from being a tactical complement to becoming a structural piece of the Ukrainian device. A Baba Yaga captured by Russian forces The night stops being a refuge. For months, trenches, concrete shelters or fortified buildings offered Russian infantry a relative sense of security from artillery and light drones. The Baba Yaga break that logic. If a point appears marked on a thermal image or reconnaissance map, no cover guarantees survival. A single drone can perform cascade attacksreleasing ammunition successively and dismantling a position section by section. The effect is cumulative: it not only destroys material, but forces units to disperseto rotate more frequently, to invest time and resources in camouflage and fortification, and to avoid concentrations of troops or vehicles. In a war of attrition, that behavioral change is as important as direct destruction. From tactical weapon to major system. Although they were born as a short-range solution, the Baba Yaga have been integrated into operations increasingly complex. They do not act in isolation, but as part of a drone ecosystem that includes FPV, long-range UAVs and, in some cases, naval platforms unmanned. In Crimea, for example, we have seen how maritime drones are used as advanced shuttles to allow heavy multicopters to reach radars and air defense systems like the Nebo-Mattacking antennas, technical installations and command posts. This logic is revealing: first the target is blinded or disorganized by other means, and then the Baba Yaga finish the job where it was previously considered too risky or inaccessible. Thus, these drones have ceased to be “flying artillery” and have become tools that connect the immediate front with the operational rear. Technical evolution. The development of these drones has not stopped. Ukrainian volunteer engineers and teams they have been improving engines, propellers, structures and suspension systems for ammunition of different calibers, while communications are reinforced with redundant channels, separate antennas and, in some cases, satellite links that expand the radius of action at the expense of payload. Russian electronic warfare has forced experimentation with system duplication control and backup plans to prevent the loss of a link from dragging down the entire set. This adaptation race explains why, even when Russia manages to shoot down some of these drones, the problem does not disappear: The threat materializes again the following night. Psychological impact. Beyond the technique, the Baba Yaga hits morale. Its low, recognizable hum does not announce an immediate explosion, but rather a tense wait– Someone, somewhere, is peering through a thermal scope and choosing the next target. Unlike artillery, there is no clearly safe haven or predictable pattern. Combined with FPV attacks and indirect fire, these drones create a sensation continuous pressure from above, from the front and from the rear. Military analysts match in which this constant stress accelerates organizational wear and tear, makes coordination difficult and forces commanders to focus on maintaining basic cohesion instead of planning offensive maneuvers. Lessons for the future of war. For Western observers and for NATO itself, the Baba Yaga are a practical demonstration of how future conflicts will be fought with swarms of relatively cheap, reusable and rapidly adapted platforms. It is not a miracle weapon, but a component within a system that combines intelligence, communications, flexible production and accelerated training. Ukraine has managed to assemble that system under extreme conditions, relying on industry, the State and voluntary networks. For Russia, the result is clear: the “witch” of folklore has returnednot as a myth, but as a technological presence that redefines the battlefield and makes it impossible to return to a war according to the standards of the 20th century. Image | Telegram, ArmіяІнформ In Xataka | Ukraine has asked Russia if they stop for Christmas like in the First World War. The answer could not have been more Russian In Xataka | Europe wanted to expropriate Russian funds on the continent to finance Ukraine. Until Belgium took the lead

Russia’s ghost fleet has changed its business model. Oil has given way to a much bigger target: Europe

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Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has not only built a vast fleet of tankers to avoid Western sanctions and continue exporting crude oil from the Baltic and the Black Sea, but has turned that logistical infrastructure into something much more ambitious. How much? The size of an old continent. The fleet in the shadows. According to Western and Ukrainian intelligence sources cited by CNN, Part of this so-called shadow fleet is being used as a covert platform for espionage and hybrid operations in European waters. We are talking about hundreds of ships that routinely sail near the coasts of EU and NATO countries, generating income of hundreds of millions of dollars for Moscow while, at the same time, expanding the radius of action of its security services away from Russian territory. “Civilian” crews with a detail. The pattern detected by the intelligence services is revealing. Many of these tankers, registered under flags of convenience and with mostly Asian or African crews, incorporate just before setting sail to one or two Russian citizens additional. The crew lists show as simple “technicians”but his background tells another story: former police officers, members of special units of the Ministry of the Interior, veterans of the Russian army or former mercenaries linked to Wagner. They are often the only Russians on board and, according to testimonies of Danish maritime pilots and European observers, exercise an authority that goes beyond the civilian chain of command, even imposing itself over the ship’s captain. Moran Security and privatization. Many of these men would be linked to Moran Security Groupa private Russian company with deep ties to the FSB, GRU, and the Kremlin’s military contractor ecosystem. Moran was sanctioned by the United States Treasury in 2024 for providing armed security services to Russian state companies, and his history connects directly with Wagner and with operations in scenarios such as Syria or Somalia. Its corporate structure (with registrations in Moscow and in opaque jurisdictions such as Belize) and its professional profile, explicitly oriented to recruit veterans of special forces, fit perfectly into the logic of hybrid warfare: formally private actors that allow the Russian state to operate with a high degree of plausible deniability. Espionage and internal control. The functions of these “technicians” would not be limited to protecting the cargo. Ukrainian and Western sources maintain that also supervise captains non-Russian vessels to ensure that the ships are acting in the interests of the Kremlin and that, in at least one documented case, took photographs of European military installations from one of these tankers. Furthermore, although details are scarce, intelligence services suggest that some of these men have participated in acts of sabotage. These would not be direct confrontations, but rather low-profile actions designed to collect information, generate uncertainty and strain the limits of the Western response. The Boracay case. He Boracay tanker illustrates this dynamic well. Sanctioned, with frequent changes of name and flag, two Russian citizens embarked in September in the port of Primorsk, near Saint Petersburg. Both were listed as technicians and were the only Russians among a crew of Chinese, Burmese and Bangladeshis. Coincidence or not, his crossing through Danish waters overlapped with a wave of sightings of drones near the Copenhagen airport and Danish military bases. Days later, the ship was boarded by the French navy against Brittany for irregularities in their documentation. No drones were found on board, but the presence of the two Russians came to light and they were discreetly questioned. For some analyststemporal correlation proves nothing, but for others It fits too well with the pattern of trial and error in the “gray zone.” Drones, sensors and something new. Beyond Boracay, Swedish and Danish authorities have detected on other ships in the shadow fleet antennas and masts not usually found on civilian merchant ships, as well as hostile behavior towards inspectors and an obsession with photographing critical infrastructure. In an environment like the Baltic, a strategic bottleneck surrounded by NATO countries, any anomalous activity becomes a disproportionate weight. For European security services, these ships are ideal mobile platforms: seemingly legal, difficult to intercept without diplomatic escalation and capable of approaching ports, cables, bases and airports without raising immediate alarms. Hybrid warfare at sea. All this fits with a broader strategy that senior intelligence officials, such as the new head of British MI6describe as constant testing “below the threshold of war.” Drones near airports, aggressive activity at sea, discreet sabotage and covert espionage are part of the same repertoire. The shadow fleet is not only an economic instrument to circumvent sanctions, but an extension of the Russian security apparatus, capable of operating in a space where Western legal and military responses are slow and politically sensitive. The European dilemma. Europe thus faces an uncomfortable decision. Intercepting ships without insurance, with dubious documentation or with armed personnel on board could stop these practices, but it also carries the risk of a direct russian reaction. As summarized on CNN a veteran Danish maritime pilot, no small country wants to be the first to make the move. The answer, if it comes, will have to be collective. Meanwhile, the shadow fleet continues growing and sailingdemonstrating that for the Kremlin the war is not only being fought in Ukraine, but also in the seas surrounding Europe, silently and in civilian uniform. Image | kees torn, Greg Bishop In Xataka | For years Europe has wondered how to stop the Russian ghost fleet. Ukraine just showed you the way: with AI 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.

Russia’s biggest threat in Ukraine is not a drone or a missile. It is a film agency with 30 secret floors

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That the war in Ukraine has become the largest drone laboratory combat power on the planet is beyond any doubt. In fact, both Russia like, to a greater extent, Ukraine, have elevated these devices to configure a war industry unprecedented that places machines as the army of the future of any conflict. What was not so well known was where most of Ukraine’s drones came from. Origin and metamorphosis. What started three years ago as a location and props agency in basements and garages has mutated into a war industry on an almost industrial scale: Fire Point, whose owner and executives come from from the world of cinema and the construction of outdoor furniture, has gone from assembling drones with commercial parts to producing, according to its executives, hundreds of propelled and long-range munitions from at least thirty secret locations scattered throughout Ukraine. But there is much more, because the company has grown so much that it has currently consolidated itself with contracts for around billion dollars in a single year. A transit that reflects the rapid professionalization and commercialization of initiatives born out of patriotism and urgency in February 2022, when improvised underground workshops became an effective (although precarious and fragmentary) response to a large-scale invasion. Production, design and employment. Fire Point products, such as your FP-1 droneare simple machines in materials (polystyrene, plywood, plastics, and carbon fiber from cycling) but assembled with a logic of volume production: rocket-assisted takeoff, two-stroke engine, range measured in hundreds of kilometers and warheads of more than fifty kilos in some designs. Its catalog also includes the promising Flamingo missilea larger device, with a jet engine and a theoretical autonomy and load that, if confirmed at scale, could reconfigure the Ukrainian capacity to hit deep targets. The Ukrainian industrial philosophy here is clear: cheap, disposable, massive. Efficiency does not require reprocessing or longevity, only that some specimens cross the defense networks and fulfill their unique mission. An FP-1 Military strategy and effects. The proliferation of these munitions has allowed Ukraine to sustain a systematic campaign against energy infrastructure Russian companies (refineries and logistics nodes) seeking not only a tactical effect but also strategic pressure and leverage in eventual negotiations. In fact, the multiplicity of manufacturers domestic forces and technical adaptability have forced Russia to face a daily erosion of its apparent air immunity, forcing it to reallocate defensive resources and contemplate low-cost warfare as a decisive vector. Transparency and control. Fire Point’s meteoric rise has not been free of shadows: Public complaints and audits point out opaque awards, absence of mandatory price negotiations, questions about initial technical quality and the possible involvement of actors linked to the media and business environment close to power. In fact, the National Anti-Corruption Agency has inspected links with figures associated with the presidential circle and there are parliamentary calls to investigate pricesspecifications and the destination of multimillion-dollar benefits. Despite this, the public narrative combines suspicion and exaltation: national heroes and strategic businessmen who have shored up the defensive capacity, while activists and analysts demand more controls and transparency in war contracts. Industrialization and ecosystem. The phenomenon is not an isolated case but the center of an industrial revolution: Thousands of companies, hundreds focused on long-range drones and dozens competing for contracts, attract foreign funds, partners and joint venture projects. State agencies charter incentiveswhile international funds (such as the recent Norwegian-Ukrainian vehicle) show that the ecosystem is beginning to professionalize and seek commercial and technological legitimation beyond the emergency. For European and North American defense, Ukraine now offers a unique experience in unmanned missions and rapid design, which arouses interest both military as industrial. Ethical dilemmas. There is no doubt, the balance raises dilemmas: the domestic war economy reduces dependence on allied donations and scales offensive capacity, but it raises questions on democratic control, accountability and the risk that lucrative war businesses are perpetuated beyond strategic necessity. Plus: the proliferation of cheap and massive systems exacerbates the asymmetric nature of the conflict and poses risks of escalation and diffuse responsibility for selective objectives and collateral damage. Perspectives. In sum, the Fire Point history summarizes the Ukrainian phenomenon: industrial creativity (in many cases, they have no other choice) converted into a strategic muscle, an industry that emerged from volunteering transformed into key actor of the military apparatusbut also in focus of controversy due to its speed, its margins and the opacity typical of a country at war. The future challenge is twofold: to consolidate technological and productive capabilities that continue to perform in combat, and at the same time insert this thriving sector into frameworks of governance and transparency that prevent war efficiency from evolving towards economies of corruption or political capture. How Ukraine resolves this binomial will define whether its revolution dronistics It remains a collective merit or becomes an institutional burden. Image | xMezha In Xataka | They call it Skyfall, Burevestnik, or flying Chernobyl. The problem is not the name, it is what Russia’s latest missile does In Xataka | The war in Ukraine was a drone war. Now it is a war of drones that are not actually combat drones

Ukraine has opened Russia’s cruise and ballistic missiles. War is impossible if your allies make weapons for you

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He fed up with Ukraine with the hole that exists around international sanctions it is palpable and numeric. kyiv intelligence has hundreds of reports in your possession that reveal that Russian drones have passed those sanctions for the lining. And not just drones, even in the tanks. The latest: Ukraine has begun analyzing parts of Moscow’s latest cruise and ballistic missiles. And what they found is a deja vu. Clandestine circuit. Three and a half years after the start of the invasion, Ukraine continues to dismantle the last Russian missiles and drones and find tens of thousands of parts inside made in the westthe majority of his “allies” (microcontrollers, sensors, connectors, converters) from countries that have theoretically embargoed the supply: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan. Of course also, Moscow’s allies like china. In fact, Zelensky put in more than 100,000 the foreign components found only among 550 vectors used in a single recent bombing, confirming that the sanctions have not turned off the tap: if anything they have made it more expensive and slowed down, but not dried up. The escape mechanism. It we have counted before. The mode of entry does not require sophisticated espionage, but rather exploiting loopholes in global trade: pieces “dual use” sold to civil actors who then they deviatecomponents placed on the market before sanctions, networks of shell companies and brokers in lax jurisdictions, and triangulated purchases via third countries that do not apply or execute controls. The sanctions gave the West three years to close the gaps, but they also gave Russia (and those who traffic for it) the same time to learn to get around them. In practice, it is a market: if you pay more, there is always someone willing to move the merchandise with layers of opacity sufficient to break traceability. Iran and North Korea. Moscow relies on two veterans of the sanctioning regime: Iran (which has spent decades refining the engineering of commercial border hopping) and North Korea (capable of moving components and complete systems despite being formally embargoed). Cooperation with both not only transfers material: it transfers method. Both logistical routes and corporate and financial camouflage techniques now migrate to the Russian military supply chain. What is possible and what is not. They remembered on Insider that the West hardens the perimeter: compliance guides for companies, “catch-all” to block sensitive exports (even if they are not listed), border inspections, criminal threat to repeat offenders, closures of loopholes when Ukraine identifies specific pieces. But even so, the regime is not airtight: global trade in components is massive, triangulation via third countries It is structural and already exists “pirate” production replacement that replicates or falsifies sanctioned parts. By design, control is reactive: it is as if each new closure encourages Moscow to seek an alternative route. Partial effectiveness. Plus: just because embargoes haven’t cut off the flow doesn’t mean they’re irrelevant. London estimates that the sanctions have deprived Russia of at least 450,000 million of dollars and have multiplied by up to six the price of dual pieces, draining war liquidity and adding temporary friction to the Russian military chain. This, a priori, penalizes rhythms, quality, scaling and maintenance, even if it does not prevent the material from arriving. The structural limit. If you want, the export control It is an instrument of soft power: its real power depends on what the rest of the world is willing to do and tolerate. It can raise the cost, strangle necks, penalize intensities, but it can hardly seal an economy-state Russian size connected to global intermediaries willing to charge for the risk. The result is an industrial war where the blockade is never binary (flows / does not flow), but rather marginal: raising the cost per Russian shot, reducing the cadence, pushing failures due to logistical stress and buy time, but hardly prevent a chip made for a laptop I ended up controlling the guidance of a kamikaze drone over a Ukrainian city. Image | Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation In Xataka | After Cubans and North Koreans fighting alongside Russian troops, new guests have appeared in Ukraine: Chinese In Xataka | In 2023, a pilot from Ukraine had an idea for Star Wars. Not only did it go well: his kamikaze plan has rewritten the war manual

As Europe fights Russia’s hybrid war, a Spanish invention simplifies how to take down its drones in seconds

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Europe attends a wave of drone raids that have violated its airspace, closed airports and exposed the fragility of its defenses. Faced with this hybrid and growing threat, the European Union study get up an “anti-drone wall”: a technological network of radars, sensors and neutralization systems designed to shield the continental sky against an invisible, cheap and increasingly closer enemy. In fact, Spain has several developments underway that it is about to test. The awakening of Spain. The advancement of drones in modern conflicts has completely transformed the nature of warand Spain is preparing to face it with an ambitious military modernization plan. The Armed Forces will celebrate from October 20 to 24 the Atlas 25 exercise in Huelva, the largest joint meeting of Land, Air and Navy for defense and attack with drones. There, Spanish observation, interception and electronic warfare systems will be tested, with the participation of the Defense Operations Command and INTA. It is not just a tactical maneuver: it is a awakening demonstration technology of the national industry, in which companies such as Indra, Arquimea, TRC and Escribano seek to position themselves at the core of European defense against an enemy that already dominates the sky with cheap and lethal swarms. Atlas 25: the great showcase. The exercise will serve as a testing ground for solutions ranging from offensive drones like the Q-Slam 40 of Archimeacapable of operating without GPS, to inhibition and defense systems developed by Indra and Escribano. But it will also be an industrial showcase in which Spain will show its capacity for technological integration and public-private cooperation. The war in Ukraine has shown that every platform is vulnerable to surveillance and air attack, and that survival depends on the speed with which new electronic warfare tools are developed. Following the recent incursions of Russian drones into European airspace, the need for this “anti-drone wall” has become a priority. The Atlas 25Therefore, it is not only a military exercise, but a political and strategic gesture that places Spain at the forefront of that continental response. Nexor Nexor full integration. The Army has chosen the Nexor systemdeveloped by TRC, as the cornerstone of its new electronic warfare strategy. We are talking about a new platform modular command and control which centralizes the information from all deployed sensors in a single interface. In recent maneuvers in Ciudad Real carried out by the 31st Electronic Warfare Regiment, Nexor (militarily named like Cerberus) has demonstrated its ability to detect, intercept and inhibit hostile drones or enemy communications, even in crowded electronic environments. He integrated system artificial intelligence and machine learning, and its open architecture allows the incorporation of new sensors or updates without redoing its structure. On a front where every second counts, Nexor promises to reduce the gap between detection and responseoffering the soldier a unified and simplified view of the environment to overthrow drones in fractions of a second. Nexor National product. In other words, with this system that is being tested, Spain takes a step towards technological sovereignty by processing and storing its own data, without depending on foreign codes or transferring sensitive information to allied or competing powers. The collaboration between TRC and the Army has led to a 100% national tool that reinforces the country’s strategic autonomy and anticipates the type of war in which so much waves like data They are as (or more) decisive than missiles. Strategic investment. The Ministry of Defense promotes a program of 646 million euros intended to reinforce the electronic warfare of the Army, awarded to Indra under the protection of article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which allows certain contracts to be excluded from common regulations for reasons of national security. 60% of the investment will be allocated to light capabilities, with 16 mobile systems equipped with Vamtac vehicles and interoperable sensors. The forecast is that Indra will rely on specialized companies as CRTwhich has worked with the Army to adapt the solutions to their real needs. The objective seems clear: to create a Spanish, scalable and sovereign system, which combines industrial experience with the technological agility that the battlefield demands today. Spain and the new border. There is no doubt, the lessons from ukraine have exposed both the vulnerability of armies against drones and the urgency to adapt to a war where control of the spectrum is as important as that of the land or the air. Atlas 25 comes at a time when Europe is seeking shield your skies in the face of the Russian hybrid threat and in which Spain emerges as a unexpectedly prepared actor. If you also want, the national industry has gone from being a secondary supplier to becoming a tactical innovation laboratorywhere the integration between technology, intelligence and digital sovereignty set the course. If the future of warfare is a fight between algorithms, sensors and autonomous machines, the nation seems willing to not to be left behind. And Atlas 25 will ultimately be the litmus test of that commitment. Image | CRT In Xataka | Europe has found the antidote to Russian drones. So demand for a 100-year-old gun has skyrocketed In Xataka | Europe has decided to take action against Moscow’s hybrid war. So Germany has started hunting for Russian drones

Russia’s order has triggered anxiety in Europe. Germany and France are already preparing for the worst: 1,000 injured per day

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To the incursions of Russia in the European airspace that took place last week In Poland, Romania and Estoniaanother in Denmark has joined with chaotic consequences for airlines. NATO has raised the voice while Moscow seems to test the allied cohesion in the Baltic. In the background: a series of movements that indicate two things: anxiety has shot in Europe, and some begin to prepare for a war scenario. Denmark does not give credit. Denmark has described As an “unprecedented attack” the incursions of drones that have forced to close the airports of Copenhagen and Oslo for hours, leaving tens of thousands of stranded passengers, in an episode that encompasses the wave of aerial rapes and drones attacks in past days To Poland, Romania and Estonia. The aircraft appeared from multiple directions, alternating lights and then disappearing, and the Danish authorities attribute them to “a capable operator”, while the Kremlin denies it. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen He talked about The “more serious” aggression against a critical infrastructure of Denmark and did not rule out any hypotheses, opinion supported by leaders such as Ukrainian President Zelenski and by EU spokesmen, who see a pattern of reckless actions by Russia. NATO celebrated meetings Under article 4condemned the violations and stressed that Rwill effort capabilities and deterrenceand some officials already contemplate the possibility of more forceful responses (even demolition) if these provocations are repeated. France and preparations. In France, the controversy has exploded after a Publication of Le Canard Enchaînéwhich revealed a letter sent in July by the Minister of Health, Catherine Vautrin, in which she asked French health agencies to prepare for a possible “major commitment” In March 2026. The document urged hospitals to be ready to serve several thousand soldiers during periods that could extend 10 to 180 dayswhich included both French and foreign troops. The news, despite proceeding from a satirical environment, generated accusations that Emmanuel Macron would be secretly planning the country to the war against Russia. The extreme right, represented by the Eurodiputa Thierry Mariani, It went further suggesting that a conflict would allow to suspend the presidential elections of 2027. The official clarification. The Ministry of Health He did not deny authenticity of the letter, but he clarified his goal: it was a Preventive Planning Faced with possible risks and threats that could affect the hospital system, including the arrival of a large number of victims of an international conflict. The measure, according to the Ministerial Crisis Center, sought to guarantee the capacity of the civil health system to absorb a massive flow of military patients in case France, as a member of NATO and ally of Ukraine, was indirectly involved in a war set. It was not, therefore, a war plan per sebut an exercise in advance of contingencies. Germany and preparations. It happens that Germany It has begun To explicitly plan how to face an eventual large -scale conflict between NATO and Russia, the scene that many alliance analysts place Around 2029. Reuters explained That the calculation that marks this preparation is as sober as disturbing: up to 1,000 soldiers Germans wounded per day may require medical care in case of an open confrontation, a figure that the inspector general of Health, Ralf Hoffmann, qualifies as realistic based on the intensity of the fighting and the units involved. Ukraine lessons. The war in Ukraine has radically changed the nature of the injuries. If the bullet wounds predominated before, today the panorama is dominated by the devastating drones effectsMERODERE AND EXPLOSIVE MORMERS, which generate amputations, burns and multiple trauma. Hoffmann Underline That the “death corridor” of ten kilometers on each side of the Ukrainian front, plagued by hostile UAVs, shows how immediate medical evacuations have become almost impossible: injured should often be stabilized for hours under constant fire before being able to be transferred. How to evacuate. With this horizon, Berlin is studying Expand your abilities of flexible medical transport, inspired by the Ukrainian experience with hospital trains. It is considered to incorporate trains, buses and a greater number of sanitary aircraft, with the aim of guaranteeing staggered evacuations: initial attention in the front, intermediate stabilization and final transfer to hospitals within the German territory. This medical logistics chain demands a robust, decentralized and capable system under air and electronic threat. The plan contemplates that the injured receive definitive care especially in civil hospitals, with an estimated volume of 15,000 reserved beds within a national total capacity of 440,000. The coordination between the military medical service and the civil health system will be essential, and the medical body of the Armed Forces, currently 15,000 troops, must be extended significantly to face the magnitude of the challenge. The Kremlin and article 5. Explained the Financial Times That all this climate of extreme anxiety in Europe possibly responds to a Moscow tactic: to demonstrate that the NATO collective defense clause, Article 5it lacks real value. A hesitant response to a provocation could open the door to Russia trying to “break down” small European states without facing the block as a whole. Scenarios such as a land incursion under the pretext of protecting Russian minorities in Baltic countries are part of the recurring fears of military planners. To do this, Moscow has uncertainty that surrounds Washingtonwhose contribution represents about 40 % of the military capacities of the Alliance in Europe. The unknowns Trump. The American factor is decisive. With units of Himars Artillery And tanks already deployed in the Baltic, the military presence is significant, but the key question is what Donald Trump would do in case of open aggression. Distrust is mutual: in Washington some see the Baltic as excessively ideological and aggressive against Moscow, while in Tallin the vote of the United States is remembered with Russia in the UN as An alert signal. The president’s volatility adds an unpredictable element: as well as surprising authorizing Attacks to IranI could react unexpectedly in a crisis in Eastern Europe. Between fear and dependence. The great European powers … Read more

Russia’s ghost fleet

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Something does not fit. The useful life of a superpetrolero is usually about 20 years old. After that time, the fatigue of the helmet and maintenance costs make their most logical destiny a scrapping. The largest place in the world for this work is Alang Beach, in India. However, since 2022, the number of oil tankers sent to the scrapping is in historical minimums. Where are those ships. They have not evaporated. According to a Bloomberg reportThey continue to sail, many of them beyond their “expiration date”, turned into zombies of the seas. The question is why. And the answer, as in so many other recent geopolitical issues, is found in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the creation of A gigantic ghost float to move the sanctioned oil of Russia. The Russian ghost fleet. After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Western powers, with the G7 at the head, They imposed a cap of $ 60 per barrel to Russian oil transported by sea. The idea was simple: drowning the income with which the Kremlin financed the war without causing a collapse of the energy market. To work, western shipping companies and insurers (who dominate the market) could not serve cargoes that exceed that price. Moscow’s response was a pentadimensional chess play: to build from scratch a FLOOT Ghost Buying hundreds of old oil tankers, on the verge of retirement, through a network of owners impossible to track. According to analysts, this parallel army already has between 600 and 1,400 ships, a naval force dedicated to transporting Russian oil throughout the world, skipping the sanctions. How an oil tanker hides. With the same tricks that were already using other sanctioned states, such as Iran or Venezuela. Turning off the AIS system transpondor, which emits its identity and position. And transferring oil from one ship to another to bleach it, as exposed This satellite image. But also registering it in countries with lax regulations or little supervision capacity, such as Gabon, Liberia or the Marshall Islands and hiring unknown insurers or even operating the ship without reliable insurance. This is how Russia has managed to maintain its exports of crude at very high levels, mainly towards China and India . The problem of the scrapping. Faced with this situation, in Alang, the huge scarter shipyards entered into recession. The ships that should arrive to be converted into scrap metal have remained activeserving the cause of Kremlin. Now, the situation is beginning to change, but in a way that generates a new geopolitical problem. The oldest and most unsustainable ships of the ghost fleet They are also starting to arrive at Alang For dismantling. For local workers, it is an economic relief. For geopolitics, a mines field. On the one hand, withdrawing these ships is a victory for maritime security and the environment. On the other, it is rewarding the sanctioned entities. For Alang’s unscathers, the incentive is purely economic: they can buy an oil tanker sanctioned with a discount of up to 40% on its market value as scrap. In Xataka | Russia is using Ceuta to avoid sanctions: the problem for Spain is that it is totally legal

Now we know Russia’s trick to multiply his drones. It is called “cooling units” and comes direct from China

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If the question is how far Beijing’s help comes to Moscow with the Ukraine War in the background, the answer is very wide. We knew through documents obtained By Bloomberg that the production of Russian drones was being favored by the use of intermediary companies with China as main actor bound. Now we know something else. The engineering of deception to overcome sanctions. Clandestine flow. I told it in Exclusive Reuters. Apparently, Russia has managed to maintain and expand the production of its drones Kamikaze Garpiya-A1despite the sanctions imposed by the West, thanks to a sophisticated undercover import scheme that involves Chinese companies. Customs documents, internal contracts and invoices reviewed by the medium reveal that the L550E engines manufactured by the Chinese company Xiamen Limbach Aviation Engine Co. continue to arrive at the Russian state company IEMZ KUPOLnow through a Signature called Beijing Xichao International Technology and Trade. To avoid detection, engines are tagged as “Industrial cooling units” in transport documents, which has allowed Your shipment From Beijing to Moscow (and from there to Izhevsk, headquarters of the Kupol plant) without alerting Chinese customs authorities or formally infringing the country’s export legislation. Mass expansion. An internal Kupol document confirms that the company has signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense to manufacture More than 6,000 Garpiya In 2025, tripling the production of the previous year. For April, more than 1,500 units had already been delivered. These drones, long -range and great precision, are regularly employed to Attack civil infrastructure and military deep in the Ukrainian territory. According to kyiv’s intelligence, Russia is using some 500 Garpiya per month. Based technologically on the Iranian Shahed, the Russian model has become a fundamental tool of Kremlin’s war effort, now enhanced by Chinese components that include not only the engine, but also Navigation and control systems. Ghost Companies Network. The path of engines to Russia is carefully disguised. After initial shipping from China, He had Reuters that engines are received by a Russian cover company called SMP-138owned by Abram Goldman, which in turn forwards them to another Russian company, Libss, final responsible for supplying Kupol. A contract between Libss and Kupol Reviewed by means Specifies specifically that the products should be identified as these “cooling equipment” to avoid suspicions. Chinese commercial companies Sichuan Airlines and China Southern Airlines have been used to transport these pieces Criticism of Russia since October 2023, despite the penalties in force. None of these airlines or the companies involved answered the Reuters questions. Ambiguous position. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in response to the environment, He denied knowledge of these shipments and reiterated that the country strictly apply export controls of double -use goods, in addition to oppose sanctions Unilateral not endorsed by the UN. However, the reality of the continuous flow of military technology towards Russia calls into question that narrative. The Xiamen Limbach company was sanctioned in October of 2023, after an earlier Reuters report that already identified its role in the manufacture of the Garpiya, which caused new intermediaries such as Xichao They assumed the relief. In spite of these measures, or Xiamen or Xichao have given explanations, and the trail of responsibility is more than diffuse among layers of screen companies, documentary opacity and legally ambiguous trade routes. Diplomatic warnings. Plus: Revelation arrives at a time of Growing diplomatic tension Between the European Union and China. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet with Xi Jinping and Li Qiang at a summit marked by Chinese support suspicions to Russian military machinery. European diplomacy, headed by Kaja Kallas, He has warned Beijing that allowing this type of trade puts the security of the continent at risk. China, meanwhile, insists that He has not exported Lethal weapons and that, if Russia uses its civil products for war, the same could be said of Ukraine. However, according to three senior European security officials, the case of Garpiya demonstrates that the Chinese supply It is not accidental or marginalbut part of a functional network that actively supports Kremlin’s military effort. European deterrence and strategic game. Experts Like Meia Nouwensof the International Institute for Strategic Studies, point out that China’s priority interest is to keep the United States focused on Ukraine, thus avoiding a direct confrontation in the Indo-Pacific. The implicit strategy would be to prolong the European conflict to gain margin of maneuver in Asia. For Brussels, however, the immediate priority is Cut the flow of critical components. Although the EU does not require China to break economic relations with Russia, it does insist that it reinforces its customs and financial controls to avoid the transit of sensitive products. For now, the proliferation of undercover engines and fictional companies shows that, on the Ukrainian battlefield, the China’s technological shadow is increasingly difficult to ignore. Image | Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine In Xataka | Ukraine has opened Russia’s last drone and does not leave his astonishment: it is the first time that China does something like that In Xataka | Ukraine has found a solution to China’s veto in drones: it’s called Hell, it’s a “home” missile and bends the scope of the attack

There is a city that maintains much of Russia’s economy in times of war. And it is on the Chinese border

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On the Manzhouli map is a small point north of Mongolia inner, a city with a population similar to Las Palmas and one picturesque square full of replicas of Russian monuments and Matrioskas giants, including a 30 m high that works as a hotel. That is at least what is seen with the naked eye. In Manzhouli practice it is much more: an important Logistics node located right on the border between China and Russia that has gained weight as Moscow’s economy was distanced from the West and narrowed his links with Beijing. So much so that There are those who point since Manzhouli is playing a fundamental role to keep the Russian economy afloat in times of war. In a place in northern China … Manzhouli is far from being the most populous, dynamic or busy city in China, but over the last months has caught the attention of several analysts. He traveled recently Lisa Visentin, correspondent for The Sydney Morning Post. And there has moved now Keith Bradsher, head of the office of The New York Times In Beijing. What is special for this sub -prefecture of Mongola in the interior of just 382,000 inhabitants and a picturesque Russian -inspired theme park full of buildings topped in domes similar to those that can be seen in Moscow and Matrioskas Xl? The answer is simple: Manzhouli is on the border between China and Russia and has managed to carve a key role in the relationship between the two countries at a strategic moment, with the Russian economy marked by the severe sanctions With which the West responded to the War of Ukraine, more than three years ago. At the right time and place. In a wide analysis Posted this week in TnytBradsher points out that today much of the commercial flow between Beijing and Moscow is channeled through Manzhouli, something that is possible thanks in part to its roads and the railway line built at the beginning of the last century by Russia and that passes through the city towards northwest China. Today, trains and trucks traveling from Russia are carried out by the town loaded with wood, planks and other materials that help Beijing avoid imports from North America. From the Chinese town there are also a large number of vehicles destination Russia, where the market suffers the consequences of the sanctions and The withdrawal of European manufacturers. A fact: 65%. As a reference and to understand the economic weight of Manzhouli, in 2022 Global Times (GT)a medium linked to the Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, I calculated that the sight border land port moved up to 65% of all bilateral terrestrial trade between China and Russia. In fact, when many years ago Manzhouli suspended the customs office for weeks to meet the “anti covid-19” measures, a local businessman lamented in GT of losses that amounted to hundreds of thousands of daily yuan. How is it possible? For several factors, although there are two that stand out: their location and infrastructure. Manzhouli is The main one China shopping center with Russia just like Erenhot It is between China and Mongolia. In fact, the city is ceasing to be a “traffic station” of merchandise to become an industrial center. Over there It is processed For example, roller or wood. “Trains from all about China arrive in Manzhouli, one of the six railway ports through which Chinese-Europa trains pass before addressing Russia or other countries in Europe,” collected in 2023 Global Times. “The trains from Europe that go through Russia enter China through Manzhouli before addressing other cities in the country.” During the first quarter the flow of China’s load trains with the continent registered a 7.1% growth In the land port. It matters where … and when. The role of Manzhiuli is today more important because they are also the economic ties between Beijing and Moscow. In 2024 the combined imports and exports of China with Russia added nearby 240,000 million of euros, a historical maximum. The data is also 2% greater than that of 2023, although that increase is far from the 26.3% registered between 2022 and 2023, coinciding with the beginning of the Ukraine War. Bradsher points out that today almost 6% of the Russian economy is based on exports to China and that the flow of merchandise that comes out of China heading to the north It has triggered 71% Since the Kremlin troops advanced on Ukraine. Beijing has become the largest buyer of oil, wood and coal from Russia and in Manzhouli a relationship in which Moscow provides raw materials for the powerful Chinese manufacturing is evident. A perfect relationship? No. Despite this narrow link and that entrepreneurs in the region have managed to make fun of the use of dollars in transactions with Russia (Tnyt speaks With an Entrepreneur from the Manzhouli area that pays Russian wood in Chinese renminbi or rubles through the VTB bank), in the economic relationship between the two countries there are also friction. Moscow forces for example that the carved pines become tables in their own territory and months ago China applied Russian coal tariffs to boost their own production. After the success of Chinese cars in the Russian market, Moscow also chose a considerable rate to imported cars. Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 Via | Tnyt In Xataka | Ukraine has opened Russia’s last drone and does not leave his astonishment: it is the first time that China does something like that

If the question is how far Russia’s help comes to North Korea, the answer has a war name in Ukraine: Shahed

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At the beginning of June more than what is behind that convergence between Moscow and Pyongyang was known. It was known by The protagonists themselves that North Korea had been sending armament for months and soldiers to Russia in his invasion to Ukraine. In return, Russia was giving him what Kim longed for: A functional army. Therefore, the question in the air seemed clear: how much “? The answer has name and origin … in Iran. The Moscow-pyongyang axis. Revealed it in an extensive interview The War Zone Medium General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukrainian military intelligence. Apparently, Russia has begun to transfer critical technology to North Korea for the Drones production Long -range Kamikazes and high -precision ballistic missiles, transforming Pyongyang into a key node of Russian war machinery and altering military balance in Asia. Shahed. Among the ceded systems, the ability to manufacture the Shahed-136 drones (known in Russia as Geran), originally from Iranian design and responsible for much of the massive air attacks About Ukraine. Russia already manufactures about 2,000 drones Shahed a month and plan to raise that figure 5,000so the outsourcing towards North Korea responds to a need to maintain the offensive rhythm without saturating its own industry. Providing Pyongyang with this capacity also means giving the possibility of saturate the defenses South Korean antialeas or even re -export drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, feeding a cycle of arms collaboration that consolidates a new authoritarian axis in the global war setting. A Shahed 136 Iranian drone The KN-23 under Russian tutelage. The benefits for North Korea do not end in drones. Budanov details How Moscow has significantly improved North Korean ballistic capacity, especially the KN-23 missile (also known as Hwasong-11), that in its first lots sent to Russia It was useless for its low precision and structural failures. However, thanks to direct technical cooperation with Russian specialists, the missiles have been redesigned until reaching a level of lethal precision, with implications that greatly exceed the Ukrainian conflict. The technological transfer also extends to the system of Air-Aire missiles long range and, possibly more worrying, to submarine systems capable of launching nuclear ballistic missiles. KN-23 The nuclear unknown. Although Budanov does not reveal exact details in the interview, Yes, it makes clear that the development of the naval component of the North Korean nuclear deterrence It is being directly supported by Moscow, which clearly amplifies the destructive potential of Pyongyang and, what is doubtful, alters the strategic balance in the Asian northeast. Korean ammunition. Support is not just technician and we have gone counting. North Korea has provided Russia with an artillery arsenal that includes since Obuses D-74 122 mm to self -propelled cannons 170 mm Koksan and multiple launcher 240 mm mlrs. The latter, According to Budanovthey have proven precise and troops in the field Battle, which explains that Russia has already received 120 units and it is expected that the shipments continue. And much more. In addition, Korea has sent about 11,000 soldiers To the Russian Oblast of Kursk, evidencing that his commitment to Moscow goes far beyond logistics. He also recalled the agreement reached by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Serguéi Shoigú, during his visit to Pyongyang, whereby the Entrance of “Labor migrants” North Koreans to replace the exit of Central Asian workers, considered vulnerable to Western infiltration. Budanov warns That many of these “workers” could end up signing military contracts, becoming de facto in Russian soldiers of North Korean nationality, thus expanding the North Korean presence in the front without officially declaring it. Military survival. If you want also, strengthening North Russia – Corea It responds not only to immediate operational needs, but to long -term strategic interests. Moscow obtains armament, soldiers and time. On the other sidewalk, Pyongyang receives technology, implicit diplomatic support and A unique opportunity to position themselves as military power beyond the Korean peninsula. Collaboration is based on a logic of mutual survival: While Russia seeks Nuclear weapons Operational and advanced drones, raising their threat capacity, for example, South Korea and other actors in the region. Challenge to global balance. The alliance, therefore, is not just a regional problem as we indicate A few weeks ago: marks a change in the dynamics of global power, where authoritarian actors share sensitive military technology to avoid sanctions, accelerate their ambitions and challenge established balances. The battlefield in Ukraine, in this context, becomes, again, the laboratory of a new war architecture that now It transcends its borders. Image | National Police of UkrainePresidential Executive Office of Russia, MEHR News Agency, VITALY V. KUZMIN In Xataka | North Korea has been sending armament for months to Russia. In return, Russia is giving him what longs for her: a functional army In Xataka | Russia has confirmed one of the great unknowns of war in Ukraine: North Korea accompanies them and not only with troops

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