Ukraine

After imposing a peace agreement in Gaza, the US is heading to Ukraine to do the same. And that has two nuclear problems

by

United States, in omnipresent figure of its president Donald Trump, seems willing to finish once and for all the invasion of Ukraine. It happens that trying to reproduce the same diplomatic “success” that is exhibited after the agreement in Gaza runs into two problems nuclear: on the one hand, the attempt to impose an agreement on Russia calls into question the sovereignty and legitimacy of the process and pushes Moscow to react. On the other hand, perhaps more dangerous, the pressure campaign that is articulated around the threat with long range missiles drastically increases the risk of an escalation that is difficult to control. From ambiguity to challenge. For a long time, Trump’s foreign policy toward Russia and Ukraine moved between deference and confusiona mix of praise for Putin, vague warnings and broken promises to kyiv. But in recent weeks, something has changed. trump has radically changed his speech, going from suggesting that Ukraine should accept territorial losses to presenting himself as the man capable of ending the war. What started as a rhetorical gesture before the UN has become a political process that seeks to consolidate the role of the United States as arbiter of the conflict, with a mix of military pressure, transactional diplomacy and calculated threat. Change and breakup. Trump, who had historically shown a almost personal indulgence towards Putin, surprised his allies and his critics with a speech in which rated Russia “paper tiger” and stated that Ukraine can recover all your territory with the support of Europe and NATO. This change, announced after his meeting with Zelensky and Macron, marks an abandonment of his traditional strategy of avoiding direct confrontations with Moscow. However, behind the turn there does not seem to be an articulated policy yet, but rather a combination of gestures: hints of sanctions, threats of retaliation and an explicit desire to reintroduce the idea of force as an instrument of negotiation. What was once indifference toward kyiv has become an instrumental interest, mixing rivalry with Putin and a desire to demonstrate international leadership. Tomahawks and ultimatums. The most visible symbol of this transformation is the word that has become recurrent in the communications from Washington: Tomahawk. Trump has openly threatened to supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles if Putin does not agree to reopen peace negotiations, an ultimatum which has put the Kremlin on alert. Moscow has responded calling the measure a “qualitatively new escalation” and warning that it could not distinguish whether the missiles carry nuclear warheads or not. For Trump, however, the announcement meets a double function: reinforces your image as a negotiator who commands respect and pressures Putin to prevent him from prolonging a war he can no longer win. Zelensky, for his part, sees the possibility of obtaining Tomahawks as not only a military instrument. but psychological: the threat of its use would be enough to push Russia to the negotiation table. The mere fact of discussing its delivery represents a break with the caution of the Biden erain which Washington rejected outright any action that could be considered direct aggression. From Gaza to Ukraine: export a model. The partial success of ceasefire in Gaza has offered Trump a narrative of diplomatic victory that he is now trying to convey on the European front. After freeing the Israeli hostages and achieving a temporary cessation of hostilities, the American president declared that his next objective was to “focus on Russia” and end the war in Ukraine. What is apparently a humanitarian movement also responds to a repositioning strategy global: demonstrate that Washington can impose order in both the Middle East and Europe without needing to deploy large military contingents. Trump has presented this new stage under a classic concept that has republished with pragmatism: “peace through strength.” It is the same logic that he seeks to apply with Putin (that is, not from conciliation, but from a credible threat). Ukraine, which for months feigned faith in some sterile negotiations to ingratiate himself with the White House, now perceives a window of opportunity: to replace the dialogue tables with the delivery of advanced weapons that change the balance of the battlefield. A military agreement. The visit of a Ukrainian delegation to Washington, led by Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, has sealed the new phase. The negotiators arrived with a list of valued acquisitions in 90,000 million of dollars, including Patriot anti-aircraft systemslong-range missiles and drone co-production agreements. Zelensky has learned to speak Trump’s language: that of transactions. It is no longer about asking for help out of solidarity, but rather offer “mega deals” that benefit both parties, presenting Ukraine as a profitable partner for the US military industry. The White House, in turn, has implicitly accepted that the talks with Moscow they are sold outand that only a substantial increase in military pressure will be able to force Putin to negotiate from weakness. The new strategic calculation. If you like, the Kremlin also crosses a point operational fatigue. Its territorial advances have become more marginal, and Zelensky himself has taken it upon himself to remember this in Washington with maps and figures: in a thousand days of war, Russia has barely conquered less than one percent of additional Ukrainian territory from 2022. The narrative of inevitable victory fades, and Trump seems to have understood. His speech on networks, in which stated that Ukraine is “in a position to recover his entire country in its original form,” was interpreted as confirmation of that change in perception. In other words: it is no longer about keeping a conflict frozen, but about precipitating its outcome through technological superiority and Russian economic collapse. The paradox. Paradoxically, the trump turn does not imply a return to the liberal idealism that defined US foreign policy for decades, but rather a pragmatism that mixes interests, spectacle and coercion. Washington does not seek to rebuild Ukraine, but rather to close a war that has stopped serving its image of power. From that perspective, the American president does not seem … Read more

Russia has found a key advantage to multiply the range of its most lethal weapon in Ukraine: Chinese factories

by

Last July Reuters was made with some documents that proved the scope of the help from Beijing to Moscow with the war in Ukraine as a backdrop. The proliferation of Russian drones was possible thanks to a system labeling called “industrial refrigeration units” during transportation, one that allowed sanctions imposed by the West to be bypassed through fictitious companies. Now we know something else: that there are entire factories dedicated to collaboration. The invisible industrial alliance. The war in Ukraine has entered a new phase in which Russia’s technological advantage on the battlefield increasingly depends on a network of factories and chinese suppliers. Although Beijing proclaims neutrality, the official customs data show a spectacular increase in exports of critical components (especially fiber optic cables and batteries lithium-ion) that have allowed Moscow to mass-build the wired drones that are transforming the balance of power on the front. These aircraft, operated through ultra-fine glass threads that unwind in flight up to more than twenty kilometers, They are almost immune to electronic warfare and have managed to breach Ukrainian defenses with an efficiency reminiscent of a silent industrial evolution. The Chinese quantitative leap. How much? counted the Washington Post that between May and August, Chinese exports of fiber optic cables to Russia multiplied tenfold, reaching 528,000 kilometers per month, while shipments of lithium-ion batteries climbed to $54 million. In contrast, Ukraine barely received a few tens of km of cable and a testimonial volume of batteries. For analysts, this asymmetry it is not coincidental: China has restricted the transfer of technologies to kyiv and its allies, but has opened the floodgates of the flow towards Moscowtransforming what were simple commercial components into decisive pieces of the Russian war machine. The combination of low cost, high production capacity and speed in developing prototypes makes Chinese factories a material extension of the Kremlin’s war effort, a “precision rearguard” capable of sustaining the offensive even under Western sanctions. The weapon against electronic chaos. we have been counting. Faced with Ukrainian dominance in FPV drones, Russia has found fiber optic models a devastating tool. As they do not depend on radio frequencies, these devices are impossible to block through interference, and their wiring guarantees total control even in environments saturated with electronic warfare. Moscow uses them to destroy logistics lines, command centers and jamming equipment before launching offensives terrestrial. Its scope (coinciding with the advances measured “by sections of cable”) illustrates how this technology defines the very geometry of the front. Since the Ukrainian withdrawal in the Kursk region, wired drones have been the protagonists of precision attacks, such as the registered in Kramatorsk on October 5, cementing a pattern of warfare in which electronic resistance has become useless. The new factories of conflict. After the withdrawal of the giant DJI of the Russian market in 2022, a constellation of minor Chinese manufacturers has taken up its space. Companies like Shenzhen Huaxin Energy either Nasmin Technologyofficially dedicated to civil products, have become major suppliers of batteries and motors for Russian assemblers. The signature Rustakt LLCone of the largest in the Russian military sector, imported from China more than 577 million dollars in pieces between July 2023 and December of the same year, a volume that reveals the scale of covert industrial support. In turn, Russian manufacturers as ASFPV or Stribog exhibit on their websites production lines located in Chinese territorywith personnel, machinery and labels in Mandarin, manufacturing ultralight coils 0.28 mm and 20 km range designed by Chinese engineers. It is a transnational industrial network that no contracts needed formal military to nourish the Russian war effort: the flow of trade is its camouflage. The dilemma of the West. We have also been counting. Despite the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, the majority of these shipments are protected by the ambiguity of the products “dual use”whose civil application allows controls to be avoided. For NATO, China has become a “decisive facilitator” of Putin’s war, Brussels accuses it of selectively applying its own export rules and to tolerate traffic of components that supports the Russian military industry. Beijing, meanwhile, continues to proclaim its neutrality, while its industrial system benefits economically from the prolongation of the conflict. Its strategy is subtle but effective: it does not supply weapons, but the infrastructure that makes them possible. A strategic advantage. Taken together, the convergence between Russian ingenuity and Chinese manufacturing capacity has created a war ecosystem that combines improvisation with industrial efficiency. The fiber drones optics symbolize that symbiosis: cheap, adaptable and difficult to counter. By providing Russia with technological independence from sanctions and tactical superiority on the battlefield, China not only strengthens its strategic partner, but also redefines global balance of power around a new form of hybrid warfare, where factories and cables count as much as missiles. The result is a cumulative advantage that, in the long term, threatens to turn the Ukrainian front into a manufactured warfare laboratorysupported not so much by soldiers, but by production lines on the other side of the world. Image | Ukraine Mod, Ministry of Defense Ukraine In Xataka | Europe has found the antidote to Russian drones. So demand for a 100-year-old gun has skyrocketed In Xataka | 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

There are fewer and fewer North Koreans fighting with Russia in Ukraine. An army has arrived with an irrefutable promise: Cubans

by

For months, reports about foreign fighters in Ukraine indicated to North Korea as the main source of soldiers sent to support Russia. Then there was official confirmation by both nations. Quietly, however, that balance is shifting in surprising ways. On the board of the war in Eastern Europe, another country begins to displace Pyongyang in the role of largest supplier of troops to Moscow, an unexpected turn that reveals both the fragility of Russia and the depth of its authoritarian alliances. The Cuban front. What began as a regional invasion has transformed into a global war, in which Russia not only faces Ukraine and its Western allies, but also mobilize a network of regimes to sustain the war effort. Among them, Cuba emerges as an unexpected actor: according to Ukrainian estimates, up to 25,000 Cubans They could join the Russian front, becoming the largest foreign force in Ukraine, above the North Korean contingents. For the Kremlin, the usefulness of this formula it is evident: The casualties of foreign fighters do not generate internal protests, do not require compensation to Russian families and reduce the political cost of the conflict. In a country with more than one million estimated casualtiesattract soldiers overseas It is also a matter of strategic survival. A formula that is difficult to reject. The main motivation for many Cuban recruits is simple: economic. On an island mired in one of the worst crises in recent decades, where the average salary barely exceeds 20 dollars a month, the promises of charge $2,000 a month They fight any ideological objection. Some accept the contracts convinced, others are deceived with job offers in construction or factories, to discover upon arriving in Russia that their destination is the battle front. Analysts like Cristina López-Gottardi they point out that the economic attraction is irresistible, but they also highlight the political dimension: Havana obtains income from remittances from combatants and consolidates its alignment with Moscow, presenting it as a gesture of “revolutionary loyalty” and, incidentally, a symbolic challenge to Washington. Experts point out that the regime seeks reinforce your narrative anti-American, presenting participation as an act of internationalist solidarity, although in practice it is a source of foreign currency in times of hardship. Mercenaries, coercion and globality. The Cuban presence is part of a broader trend: the growing Russian dependence on foreign fighters. According to intelligence data, in 2025 almost half of the prisoners captured in Ukraine They were not Russian citizenswhen in 2022 they barely represented 1%. From Africans recruited under threats of deportation, until deceived students With false job offers in “shampoo factories”, including North Koreans sent as cannon fodder, Moscow turns to a whole mosaic of forced soldiers or mercenaries. In this sense, the Cuban contribution not only strengthens the Russian lines, but also magnify the image of a war waged by an international authoritarian axis that includes Iran, Venezuela, North Korea and now Cuba, sharing weapons, technology and experience on a battlefield converted into a laboratory for modern warfare with drones, electronic warfare and new combat tactics. Cuba as a diplomatic target. Cuban involvement in Ukraine has not gone unnoticed by the United States. The Trump administration has decided to use it as a central argument in his diplomatic offensive against Havana at the UN. An internal State Department cable, dated October 2, instructed US delegations to pressure allies to vote against the traditional annual resolution demanding an end to the US embargo on Cuba. Year after year, the measure has had overwhelming support (in 2024, 187 countries voted in favor and only the United States and Israel against), although Washington hopes to reduce that margin by presenting evidence that the Miguel Díaz-Canel regime has become in active accomplice of Russian aggression, with between 1,000 and 5,000 fighters deployed on the front. In the documents is underlined that Cuba “has failed to protect its citizens from being used as pawns” in the war, and the regime is accused of “undermining democracy” in the region, particularly through its alliance with Venezuela. The embargo and sanctions. Washington’s strategy seeks to disarm the Havana narrative, which presents the embargo as the root of all their evils. The diplomatic cable instructs to highlight the corruption and incompetence of the Cuban government, in addition to highlighting that the economic problems do not derive from the sanctions, but from its mismanagement. Trump, upon his return to the presidency, has hardened the restrictions: has reinstated Cuba to the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, has further limited financial transactions and has sanctioned third countries that collaborate with Cuban doctors abroad. Faced with this pressure, the Cuban regime accuses Washington of seeking a pretext for aggression and even instrumentalizing the anti-drug fight in the Caribbean as an excuse to increase tension. That said, the backdrop seems different: the combination internal collapse and military alliance with Moscow places Cuba at the epicenter of the geopolitical struggle between Washington and the authoritarian bloc. Military school. Beyond the diplomatic balances, what worries many analysts is that the war in Ukraine has become an involuntary academy for allied armies of Russia. Every foreign contingent that steps on the front learn first hand the techniques of the first great drone war in history: from swarm operations to electronic warfare. As warns Bill Colefounder of Peace Through Strength Institute“the real danger is not the thousands of Cubans or North Koreans sent, but what they learn and then export to other conflicts in Latin America, Africa or Asia.” This transfer of war knowledge turns war into a multiplier of global instability, with authoritarian regimes absorbing tactics and adapting them to their own scenarios. The Cuban paradox. The participation of thousands of Cubans in the Ukrainian war also reveals a paradox: while for the Havana regime it represents both a source of foreign currency and a reaffirmation of its anti-American identity, for Moscow it is a cheap solution and politically comfortable to internal wear and tear, and for Washington an opportunity to intensify diplomatic pressure … Read more

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

by

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

The electronic war is lying the technologies in Ukraine. So Russia has returned to World War II: horse soldiers

by

In the month of June Some images They highlighted a dangerous evolution of assault tactics, one where the Russian army began to Use motorcycles as a main tool to move towards the Ukrainian lines, in an attempt to avoid the destruction of their armored Modern to the power of drones. Now, the electronic war in Ukraine has turned each technological innovation into a weapon with the days counted. Solution? The return of the cavalry. A symbolic return. Yes, the war in Ukraine, characterized by a massive deployment of drones, precision artillery and electronic war, has led the Russian army to explore solutions of archaic appearance: the Reintroduction of horses On the battlefield. What began as improvisations With donkeys and horses To transport supplies in the front, it has evolved towards formal training units mounted, according to The Kommersant newspaper. The idea greatly reflects the point of the dead to which modern technologies have reached a saturated front of electronic interference, where even the most sophisticated systems have been limited, forcing resort to basic methods that evoke the wars of the past. Training and tactics. In the Donetsk region, the commander of the “Storm” unit of the 9th Brigade has organized Horse training for assault troops. Exercises, video recorded and released in pro -government channels Like “Wargonzo”show soldiers galloping through open fields, some sharing a mount: one controls the animal and the other prepares to open fire. The approach is that, once the objective is achieved, both combatants dismantle and advance on foot against the enemy position. The tests also seek that horses get used to noise of shooting and explosions, minimizing the risk of being scared in combat. Its alleged advantages include the ability to move at night, accelerate without roads and, according to Russian controls, guide themselves by instinct to avoid mines. Limitations and symbolism. Despite these virtues, the use of horses raises important inconveniences: their weight can detonate antipersonnel mines, require constant food and care, and have a load capacity much lower than that of armored vehicles. Therefore, even Kommersant emphasizes that the cavalry will hardly be deployed on a large scale and that the measure is, above all, a symbolic gesture in a conflict that, despite being the scene of leading technologies, has forced the parties to also resort to rudimentary solutionsfrom analog telephone lines to cargo animals. The stamp of Russian soldiers on horseback contrasts with the official story of technological innovation and highlights the material and tactical wear of the campaign. Cavalry Brigade of the SS in Russia, 1941 The vintage resource. The resource for horses is not the first Russian attempt to use unconventional alternatives in the front. It We have counted before: units have been documented in motorcycles, quads, and even E-SCOOTERS AND MONOCICLOS electric, with unequal results. In particular, motorcyclist brigades destined to evade Ukrainian drones have suffered Massive casualties: The open field exposure and the absence of coverage made them easy blank, with most bikers eliminated before achieving their goals. The commitment to cavalry reflects the same logic: Quick and low -cost solutions to an enemy with technological advantage, although without guarantees of real effectiveness in combat. Military stagnation The context of this equine return is the stagnation of the Russian offensive. Between September 20 and 30, Moscow only achieved advance 29 square kmand although in the whole of the month he added 447, most of the profits occurred in little disputed rural areas. In Donetsk, where the “Storm” unit is concentrated, Russia barely He won 181 square kilometersone of its lowest records in a year. The front has been practically frozen for weeks, which has forced the Kremlin to resort to propaganda measures To show dynamism, while Ukraine recognizes difficulties, but maintains resistance in key nuclei such as Pokrovsk and Dobropillia. Echoes of the twentieth century. The return of horses to the battlefield is not an exclusive phenomenon of war in Ukraine. During World War II, both Germany and the Soviet Union They used cavalry In patrol operations and logistics support, while Poland was hard stigmatized by the famous riders of riders against tanks in 1939a partially exaggerated myth but showed the obsolescence of classical cavalry against mechanization. In the Soviet Union, however, mounted units are They used effectively In wooded environments and in the antipartisan struggle, where their mobility offered advantages that vehicles could not match. In subsequent conflicts, horses They reappeared in low intensity wars or in difficult access scenarios. Afghan resistance against Soviet invasion in the 1980s depended largely of horses and mules to transport weapons in mountainous terrain. Paradoxically, after 11-S, the US special forces deployed in Afghanistan They turned to horses To move with its local allies, an image that became a symbol of the clash between the technological war of the 21st century and the indomitable geography of the Hindu Kush. The paradox. The image of Russian soldiers galloping Between drones and artillery summarizes the paradox of the war in Ukraine: in a conflict turned into a showcase of military innovations (Drones swarms, artificial intelligence applied to combat, Hypersonic weapons and Electronic War), the fatigue of materials and the tactical blockade have returned to the battlefield tools typical of another era. While it is unlikely that modern cavalry changes the course of the contest, His mere reappearance It is a powerful symbol of to what extent the war in Ukraine has stressed the limits of technology and has forced to reimagine, even with primitive means, the way of fighting. Image | Wargonzo In Xataka | An AIM-9X missile cost a million dollars to tear down a Russian drone. Ukraine has found the solution for 2,000 dollars 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

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

by

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

Some fishermen have found a drone of Ukraine loaded with explosives. The problem is where: in Türkiye

by

At the beginning of September he turned on a flame that has not yet turned off. In the War of Ukraine we had seen drones throwing drones To tear down other drones, drone swarms stopping and prisoners To recruits, even drones acting practically on your own Thanks to the AI. But never that a drone lost the course and ended up arriving as far as Estonia. That is why what has happened now is unusual: they have arrived in Türkiye. An unexpected finding. The discovery of a Ukrainian naval drone Magura Loaded with explosives in front of the Turkish town of çarşıbaşı, 1,500 km from kyiv territory, it has highlighted both the scope of these weapons and the collateral risks of its employment. The artifact was towed by local fishermen to the port, which had to close while displacing artifiers to neutralize it. It was a Magura V5 modeleasily identifiable for its electrooptic turret and satellite antennas, but without the additions of some recent prototypes, such as FPV drone pitchers, machine guns or missile rails. The scene illustrates How these mills, initially conceived as naval kamikazes, can become dangerous drifting objects if they lose contact or fail their guidance systems. The evolution of magura. From his Appearance in 2022the Magura have gone from being simple suicidal boats to versatile platforms. Gur, Ukrainian military intelligence, has experienced aerial drone releasesautomatic armament and even With air-air missiles. In December 2024, a Magura V5 managed to demolish A MI-8 helicopter Russian with an adapted R-73, a world milestone in the use of naval drones. In May 2025, another V7 variant, equipped with two Sidewinder AIM-9he killed Two SU-30 Flanker fightersdemonstrating that a non -manned surface vehicle could deny airspace. These advances confirm that the border between naval, aerial and land war is blurred in the same modular system. Strategic impact We have counted before. The Ukrainian campaign with naval drones transformed maritime balance. After The attack on Sebastopol In October 2022, the USV forced Russia to retreat large units of its fleet, limit operations in the northwest of the Black Sea and assume a constant risk even in eastern ports. Despite not having a conventional navy, Ukraine has managed to contain one of the world’s greatest armed through drone swarms. This has had a direct strategic effect: Crimea, core of the Russian naval presence, has remained More isolated and vulnerableand Moscow has been forced to reinforce coastal defenses, disperse ships and display additional surveillance means. Captures, losses and a race. Not all magura reach their goals. Some have been recovered intact, such as the one found by Russia in Crimea In November 2023which opens the door to the analysis and the possible reverse engineering. The images of these captured specimens show the rapid evolution of the design, with improvements in optics, antennas and autonomy. The risk It is double: On the one hand, Russia can learn to interfere with your communications or copy technologies; On the other, propaganda uses these findings to show supposed Ukrainian weaknesses. The drone found in Türkiye, regardless of its characteristics, becomes a symbol of the limits of this new form of war: the sea can return these mills to unexpected places, with unpredictable consequences. The Naval War of the future. He Turkish episode confirms that naval drones have arrived To stay. Their low cost compared to a war ship, their ability to operate without crew and their flexibility to carry different weapons systems make them a decisive actor. The Ukrainian case demonstrates that a conventional nation can harass and condition a much higher adversary. At the same time, ask questions about International Maritime Securityneutrality of third countries and technological proliferation. If a fisherman can find an explosive drone in a Turkish port, the line between Combat and Civil Space front becomes increasingly dim, anticipating a future in which the seas will be the scene of wars Invisible Libradas by clear flag machines. Estonia was The first noticeand now they have arrived in Türkiye. Image | X In Xataka | Ukraine has invoked what Russia vetoed since the beginning of the war. And he told the US to tighten the button: Tomahawk In Xataka | An unusual plan is touring Europe: lift a wall that protects the entire continent, but instead of concrete, drones

Ukraine has invoked what Russia vetoed since the beginning of the war. And he told the US to tighten the button: Tomahawk

by

Distances in modern wars are nuclear issues. In Ukraine it was very clear in November 2024, when the world held thinking that Putin finally had “tightened” the button. So, A few kilometers They were key for the Moscow missile not to activate all red lines. That is why also, since the invasion of 2022, a name that kyiv has just invoked as one of the greatest orders to Russia has rarely jumped to the fore. Tomahawks in Ukraine. USA Study seriously The request of the Ukrainian President Zelenski to incorporate cruise missiles Tomahawk To his arsenal, a step that would be an unprecedented escalation in the war. These missiles, with a range of between 1,500 and 2,500 kilometers according to the versions, would be able to reach Moscow and much of the Russian territory from Ukrainian soil, which would represent a qualitative change with respect to the current kyiv capacities, based mainly on long -range drones and the limited ones Atacms missiles previously authorized by Washington. The possibility of its delivery reflects the turn of the Donald Trump administration, which until recently was reluctant to extend the conflict, but now transmits a more belligerent speech: for its special envoy Keith Kellogg “There are no sanctuaries” and Ukraine should be able to hit Russia deeply to alter the dynamics of war. The Russian answer. From Moscow, the statements were received with an alarm and challenge mixture. Spokesman Dmitri Peskov recognized that the Kremlin was carrying out an “in -depth analysis” about the implications of an eventual supply of Tomahawks, raising questions about who would control its launch and the selection of objectives: if exclusively the Ukrainians or if there were American personnel involved, which would bring the scenario closer to a direct confrontation between powers. Besides, warned thateven if these missiles will be delivered, “there is no panacea” capable of rooting the situation on the front, where Russia claims to be constantly moving forward. The implicit message is that, even before a technological leap, Moscow would maintain the military initiative and not give in western blackmail. Reprisals and a shadow. The Russian political class went further in their warnings. The president of the Parliament Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, said that any US military specialist who participated in operations with Tomahawks would become reprisal objective direct, “and no one can protect them, neither Trump nor Kellogg nor anyone else.” Similarly, Putin He has repeated On previous occasions that Russia reserves The right to attack military facilities in third European countries if attacks against their territory are facilitated. The threat is not less: it would make NATO base white, with an obvious risk of climbing towards a direct conflict of greater size. Even Dmitri Medvedev, in his usual tone, He warned that Europe “It cannot afford a war with Russia”, but that “the risk of a fatal accident always exists”, in reference to the possible trigger for a greater confrontation from an error of calculation or a crossing of red lines. Tomahawk Change of American course. No doubt, the reconsideration of the supply of Tomahawks to Ukraine symbolizes a Turn in the strategy United States. During the presidency of Biden, Washington was extremely cautious, Limiting to reluctant The use of Atacms within the Russian territory and fearing to trigger an uncontrolled escalation. Under Trump, however, the speech has mutated: he starts talking about Ukraine as Able to win the warRussia is qualified as “paper tiger” and Multiply the pressure For European allies to also contribute with long -range missiles, such as German bullfighting. Former Lithuanian Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis He stressed That these weapons would not only give Ukraine greater control, but also allow “marking the tone” of the climb, instead of letting it be Moscow who unilaterally decides the depth of the attacks. Atacms Military Comparison: Atacms. The debate on which long -range missiles should receive Ukraine is not only political, but deeply technical and strategicbecause each system offers different possibilities on the battlefield. In front of Tomahawk, the Atacms, already used by Ukraine, is a tactical ballistic missile launched since Himars systems either M270. Its most widespread versions can reach 300 km. HE They use above all to hit deposits of ammunition, aerodromes and troops concentrations behind the immediate lines of the front. Its impact has been remarkable by forcing Russia to displace its more logistics centers within, but its limited scope leaves most of the Russian strategic rear. For Moscow, the difference with a Tomahawk is abysmal: while the Atacms forces to retreat a few hundred kilometers, a Tomahawk would put all its military and political apparatus at risk. Taurus Kepd 350 Military comparative: Taurus Kepd 350. He Taurusjointly developed by Germany and Sweden, it is an aerial cruise missile launched from combat planes such as The Tornado or the Eurofighter. Its estimated scope is 500 km, with a penetration eyelet designed to destroy bunkers, landing clues and strongly protected objectives. His ultrabajo flight profile and his capacity for electronic evasion make it especially difficult to intercept. Ukraine has been claiming these missiles for some time, although Berlin He has shown reluctance for the risk of being used to attack on Russian soil. In case of reaching Kiev, they would give the Ukrainian Air Force the ability to attack with great precision key military facilities such as aerodromes, barracks or weapons deposits in areas that until now remained out of reach. Strategic implications. The essential difference is In the scope: Atacms offer a tactical radius limited to the immediate area of ​​the front, the Taurus would allow to hit deeply in the Russian operational rear, and the Tomahawk would open the possibility of strategic attacks to the entire interior of the country, including its large urban and military centers. This reach staircase translates into different levels of climbing: while the attacks are perceived as a weapon of containment and wear, the Taurus already touch the capacity for operational denial and the Tomahawk cross directly to the field of strategic deterrence, … Read more

Europe saw the Ukraine War from home comfort. Until the war has moved to its airports

by

The war in Ukraine has devoured Russia’s human and material resources at a devastating rhythm: more than 250,000 soldiers dead and about one million of total casualties, a cost higher to all its wars since 1945. This fact has conditioned Moscow, but has also enhanced a war that has turned the airspace of the rest of Europe into chaos: The hybrid war. The bleeding and the turn. Forbes counted This week that, despite that human sacrifice, Moscow has barely expanded 12% The territory under its control, at the price of losing ten men for each square mile conquered. Thus, unable to sustain the conventional war, the Kremlin has replaced the number of troops by the Drones deploymentcapable of launching more than a thousand projectiles and responsible for Up to 70% of the Ukrainian casualties. The bet is so clear that it is expected to form more drone operators What infantry soldiers From here to 2030. With this transition, Moscow has converted the swarm of unmanned aircraft into the central tool of a hybrid strategy that not only points to Ukraine, but now Also to all of Europe. Civil aviation, the first front. The European airports They have been the first to feel the effects of this war in the shadow. Drone raids forced the Temporary airport closure In Copenhagen and Oslo, while a ransomware attack paralyzed billing systems in London-Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels. What were previously isolated incidents has become a coordinated series of interruptions that show to what extent civil aviation, highly interconnected, is vulnerable to hybrid sabotage that combines low cost devices with cyber attacks. The experts They point That these episodes seek to measure the European reaction capacity, and warn that the cost of modernizing antidron systems (radars, inhibitors, lasers) is so high that many airports are not prepared to assume it immediately. The result: hundreds of delayed or canceled flights and an unprecedented exhibition of the weaknesses of an essential sector. Denmark as an epicenter. In just one week, Denmark has undergone a Succession of incursions with drones on key airports such as Aalborg or Billund and on military bases where their f-16 and F-35 fighters operate. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulen, described These operations as a hybrid attack executed by a “professional actor” and acknowledged that they could lead to activate Article 4 of NATO for the first time in the history of the country. Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, He described Copenhagen’s closure as the most serious attack suffered by Danish critical infrastructure. The government even studies legal changes to authorize civil operators of strategic facilities to demolish drones in case of threat. In parallel, political pressure has led to Call of meetings Joints in the EU to discuss the creation of a “drone wall” on the eastern borders of the continent. Europe and a challenge. The incidents In Poland, Romania, Estonia and Denmark have uncovered a major problem: Europe’s inability to face Cheap threats and massive like drones. The systems designed to intercept fighters or ballistic missiles are revealed ineffective against swarms of small low -cost devices, which go unnoticed to the radars or saturate the defenses. The magnitude of the Intrusion in Poland and airspace violations In Estonia They have shown that the gap is real. General stones They warn That what they need are not very expensive and scarce systems, but scalable defenses, cheap and mass produced: sensors, electronic war tools, small interceptors and short -range missiles. The proposal of A “Drones Wall” that covers borders with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine reflects urgency, but also the complexity of protecting against a threat in constant evolution. The conflict at home. The truth is that, for a long time, Europe contemplated the invasion of Ukraine from a distance, with the feeling that the war was fought in a foreign scenario. Today that perception It has vanishedat least in part: The hybrid war It has already closed airports In Denmarkparalyzed systems in Berlin, Brussels and London, and put at risk the safety of commercial flights. Thus, the front has moved to the tracks, to the navigation systems and the digital networks that support the daily life of millions of Europeans. If you want also, Russia has made the war cease to be a distant echo to become A tangible reality In the heavens and in the infrastructure of the continent, forcing NATO and the EU to rethink its defense in a new and most disconcerting terrain. Image | State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, monitorwar In Xataka | Russia is running out of one of its guts in war: Ukraine has destroyed the last Soviet jewel, and there are no spare parts In Xataka | Two hidden Russian soldiers wrote something unpublished to a drone. That day in Ukraine changed the rules of wars

Ukraine has struck Russia a blow to two “amphibious” relics of the cold war. And then he has shown it on video

by

On October 18, 1960, from the Taganrog airfield, the Soviet Union presented the world with its first flight The Beriev Be-12an amphibious plane designed to perform underwater and maritime patrol missions that over time was expanding its abilities. In fact, Russia continued to keep several models used in the invasion of Ukraine. Until a few days ago. The attack against a relic. The scene took place September 21when Kamikaze drones Ukrainians reached the Kacha air base, in the Crimea occupied, attacking two of the very scarce be-12 amphibians of the Russian Navy and a MI-8 helicopter. The disseminated images By the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense they show the direct impact on one of these devices (identified With number 08) and reinforce the idea that it is the first confirmed attack against this type of aircraft, known In Russia as chaika (Gaviota) and by NATO with the name in a mail key. The action was claimed by the Special Unit “Ghost” of Ukrainian intelligence, underlining the increasingly relevant role of drones in the campaign against infrastructures and military assets in Crimea. The importance of B2-12. As we said at the beginning, the BE-12 was conceived in the sixties as an anti-submarine platform. Lost that main function decades ago, although kept in service in search and rescue configurations and, above all, as a maritime patrol to detect unmanned Ukrainian boats that Hostigan to the Black Sea fleet. With just Six registered devices In 2023 and only four or five in the operational state, the destruction or damage of two of them could mean the reduction to half of the active fleet. Although one of the specimens achieved could have already been out of service, even in that case it was valuable as a source of spare partsa critical resource to prolong the life of the model. The pressure in Crimea. Since the summer of 2022, the BE-12 have been frequently operating On the Crimea coastacting as support in the detection of unmanned vessels, recognition commands and Ukrainian special operations divers. The drone campaign of Ukraine surface, which began with suicidal models and has resulted in reusable platforms capable of launch FPV drones or even gunners, has weakened To the roller and forced fleet the construction of hardened shelters in air bases Like Belbek. The loss of specialized aerial patrols aggravates Russian vulnerability in this scenario, where early intelligence and detection are vital. The sunset of an airplane. The BE-12 has survived multiple stages of obsolescence, from the dissolution of the USSR to its Official withdrawal in 1992re -giving prominence after Crimea Annexation in 2014. However, without substantial modernizations, it lacks viability in an air environment disputed and can only perform secondary missions under conditions of Russian superiority. Its apparent final, precipitated by Ukrainian drones, symbolizes how a war marked by autonomous systems and precision attacks is dismantling the last vestiges of Soviet aviation in the region. Strategic consequences. If you want also, the attack against the BE-12 He fits the Ukrainian strategy to deprive Russia of surveillance and control capacities in the Black Sea, weakening the operating margin of the enclave fleet and undermine military logistics in the Peninsula. Beyond the tactical blow, the action reflects the War transition Towards a scenario in which cheap, autonomous and difficult to counteract systems are able to neutralize expensive and scarce platforms, accelerating Russian wear and questioning Moscow’s ability to keep an increasingly naval aviation operational relic dependent. Image | Commander, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa/US 6th FleetUkrainian Ministry of Defense In Xataka | Two hidden Russian soldiers wrote something unpublished to a drone. That day in Ukraine changed the rules of wars In Xataka | Italy, Germany, Sweden and Finland have done something that seemed unthinkable: throw their fighters in search of Russian airplanes

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.