war

The four -day workday has found an unexpected ally in Moscow: the Ukraine War

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The conflict in Ukraine continues to reconfigure not only Geopolitics and the European Budgetsbut it will also change the working day of thousands of Russian workers. Avtovaz, one of Russia’s biggest car manufacturers, has announced that it will apply the four -day work week As of September. According to The published by Reutersthis is not a measure oriented to Improve productivity or reduce the stress levels of its workers, but adopts this measure in the middle of a strong fall in vehicle sales, a crisis of consumption due to the wear of the invasion of Ukraine and a growing pressure of exports of Chinese cars. Russia does not sell cars. Avtovaz, is the manufacturer of the acquaintances Lada. After the first months of the Ukraine War, the Russian Automobile Industry lived a brief increase in defense expense and state subsidies. However, according to data from Reutersthis situation has begun to revert quickly. Avtovaz explained through a statement sent to Russian media that their sales fell 25% in the first semester, with only 155,481 units sold, and estimates that this will be the tendency for the entire source year. Avtovaz is not the only one to consider the four -day work week as a measure for shock the crisis of the sector. According to The local pressthe Russian manufacturer Gaz (Gorkovski Avtomobilny Zavod) will also apply the four -day week on his Gorki plant, for the same reasons that Avtovaz argued. Russia’s own Minister of Economy, Maxim Reschetnikov, He warned in June that the country “is on the verge of entering recession.” Avtovaz, as a reflection of this crisis, wants to use the letter of reduction of the work week as a way of maintaining employment without increasing the number of layoffs in difficult times. No money to make them or to buy them. According to published The Moscow Times“The final decision on the introduction of a reduced work week of four days will be taken based on the results of an analysis of market trends and economic factors, including the level of the key interest rate and the availability of credit products,” said the manufacturer’s statement. The main reason that has uncontrolled this crisis (in addition to being a derivative of the conflict in Ukraine), has been the increase in interest rates, which slows so much production Like consumption. “We are talking about a high key rate and more severe demands by the regulator for those facilitating cars loans,” Avtovaz explained in his statement collected. The impact of high types not only feels Avtovaz. The Russian giant of the Seversal Steel, pointed outthat “the high basic rate and low prices” were responsible for a 55% drop in their benefits in the second quarter of the source year. That is, as I know money is expensivecompanies lose profitability and citizens purchasing power to buy cars that are manufactured, generating a chain effect that complicates economic recovery. Chinese cars are unstoppable. To the already complicated economic crisis of the automobile sector worldwide, the massive emergence of imported cars from China is added, which sell their products at such low prices that Avtovaz directly accuses a “price dumping policy.” According to company sources these marches, mostly Chinese, are increasing the market pressure with very small prices to give out more than 400,000 cars that these importers have stored in their dealers and have not yet sold. Gaz starts already, Avtovaz leaves it for September. Russian Fuentes assure that Gorki de Gaz’s factory will implement the four -day work week immediately. From July 21 to August 3, the employees of this plant will enjoy their vacations normally. During this period, several divisions of the plant will continue to operate according to their work schedule. Once they finish, the four -day work week will be implemented at least until the end of August. Avtovaz indicates that it is still analyzing the way to implement the measure, so it will enter into force for September in the factory that the company has in Togliatti, in which one in 20 inhabitants of this city works. You know what it is to work four days. Although it is not done for the reasons for productivity and well -being improvement That this model of day is usually applied, this is not the first time that Avtovaz resorts to the reduced working day to deal with a crisis. In 2022, just after the imposition of First international sanctions To Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, the company implemented a four -day work week for three months. During that same year, the sales of its flagship model, the Lada, fell 48.2%, until 174,688 units, according to data publishedby The New Voice of Ukraine. On that occasion, four -day work week served to maintain a certain level of production In an adverse scenario. Today, three years later, economic conditions remain equally complicated, so companies re -apply the same recipe. In Xataka | Three Spanish companies tell us how it has gone after implementing a job utopia: the four -day week Image | Lada, Unspash (Sten Rademaker)

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

North Korea is transforming its army into the Ukraine War. And the strangest thing is the response of South Korea

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Russia and North Korea confirmed In April an open secret: that Pyongyang It is cooperating With Moscow in the War of Ukraine at various levelsincluding from troops to military arsenal. In return, Russia is giving North Korea what longs for: a functional army and a military capacity that could represent a challenge to global strategic balance. Thus, the strangest thing is the position of South Korea. Seoul’s silence. I remembered this week The Guardian. Although South Korea reacted rapidly to condemn the launch of ballistic missiles by North Korea in May, his government kept absolute silence when a KN-23 missile North Korean (designed precisely to attack South Korean objectives) hit a residential building in kyiv, Killing 12 civilians. That omission was not an isolated case: there was no answer when Russia displayed An anti -aircraft system To protect Pyongyang, or when it was learned that Russian instructors They were training to North Korean drones operators in their own territory. All this points, According to analyststo a disturbing lack of understanding by Seoul about the scope of the military transformation that is experiencing North Korea, a fed transformation not (alone) into theoretical exercises, but in the real crucible of war in Ukraine. A metamorphosis. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, North Korea supplies 40% of ammunition that Russia uses in its offensive against Ukraine. In parallel, Pyongyang has accelerated its own arms production and has sent an initial contingent of 12,000 soldiers to the Russian region of Kursk, a figure that has grown with another 6,000 troopsmilitary engineers, bridge experts and railways, logistics staff, military police, electricians and even interpreters. Although officially these soldiers unfold in reconstruction tasks, the real gain for Kim Jong-un lies in what their troops They are learning: Modern War, Coordination of Combined Weapons, Management of Recognition and Attack Drones, Electronic War and Technological Systems unknown so far for its Army. And more. Moscow’s support has also been translated into Technology Transfersincluding improvements in the precision of KN-23 ballistic missilesalready used against urban centers such as Járkov. According to Ukrainian intelligence, North Korean soldiers captured They revealed such an extreme ideologization that they tried to commit suicide biting their own veins to avoid being interrogated. One of them proudly said would return to your country as a hero for having fought in a modern war. Political calculation It is the other leg that slides. While Zelenski warns directly To South Korea that the time to act is now, before thousands of North Korean missiles and improved drones begin to threaten Seoul or Tokyo, the South Korean authorities seem look. The posture, According to expert Yang Ukresponds to a delicate balance Between strategy, internal policy and economic considerations. The reason? Openly recognize the danger of North Korean rearmament and his experience in combat would imply have to answer With firm measures (including perhaps sending weapons to Ukraine), something deeply unpopular among the South Korean population. In addition, Lee Jae Myung’s government is committed to a pragmatic foreign policy focused on economic recovery, in a context where Russia was one of its main commercial partners before war. On the political level, the South Korean ideological division revolves around the position against the north: while the right insists on the rearme and the hardening of the defense, the left Defend the dialogue And he maintains that South Korea has no obligation with Ukraine. The recent political crisis derived from the attempt of declare martial law He has left many officials reluctant to expose themselves publicly or make decisions that may be subject to political attacks. Between ambiguity and paralysis. If you want, Seoul’s hermeticism can be understood as an extension of its traditional “strategic ambiguity”, an unwritten doctrine of not getting involved in international conflicts that may put their own relations with key actors such as China or Russia at risk. However, some analysts warn that this position is staying dangerously outdated Faced with threats that evolve in months while military bureaucracy continues to work with planning times that require years. Godzilla level. He told the Guardian The retired general Chun In-bum that South Korea faces a threat comparable to a “level 10, super Godzilla”, but his institutional apparatus still acts as if only saw a tiger. In his opinion, the South Korean military doctrine remains anchored in a paradigm prior to the era of drones and is not adapted to face an adversary that is assimilating, In real timethe lessons of the most brutal conflict of the 21st century. From its point of view, the country is in front of a train that approaches at full speed, and is still in time to move or prepare, but not for much more. Reconfigured future. In short, the Military cooperation Public between Russia and North Korea is already leaving a mark on the Asian power structure. Moscow is integrating Pyongyang into its logistics chain and long -term supplies, in an alliance that could alter regional military balance even after the war ends in Ukraine. Meanwhile, South Korea seems willing to Keep observing From the barrier, trapped between fear of conflict, economic calculation and a political class immobilized by polarization. The problem is that northern neighbors seem to be gaining experience, technology and internal prestige to full machine for his role in a real war. And in that scenario, the question no longer points to whether that experience will turn against Seoul, but rather when. Image | Morning Calm, Getharchive 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 gave animals, artillery and raw to North Korea. His last gift places his army at another level: space

Benalmádena wants to shoot sales in their stores. So he has declared war on colored awnings

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Benalmádena has tired of colored potpourri on the terraces of the local restaurants and shops, so he has decided to cut for the healthy: an area, a tone. In the middle of summer and with restaurants, deploying umbrellas and awnings to protect its clients from the Mediterranean sun, the City Council It has moved token To give commercial neighborhoods a more “homogeneous” aspect. The objective: more attractive, more purchases. Goodbye, colored tide. Benalmádena, one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Costa del Sol, has decided to put order in a small detail that marks its visual personality: the awnings. Recently the City Council celebrated A special commission Centered on terraces, watchmen, facades and shops in which it approved a series of measures to “homogenize” the image of some neighborhoods. To be more precise, he has focused the focus on the area of Benalmádena Pueblo. Gray I love you gray. The most interesting measure focuses on the awnings and separating screens from its central almond. Benalmádena Pueblo will say goodbye to the potpourri of shades for the sake of a much more “attractive” image. “The awnings will be gray with white aluminum profiles, not allowing any commercial brand, only the name of the black establishment.” Are there more news? Yes. For the lateral separations of the terraces, the use of screens will be allowed, but as long as they fit certain patterns: They must be forged at the bottom and glass in the upper. The separators can also wear the name of the establishment as long as they do it in vinyl or with screen printing. The City Council also wants those stores that occupy public space with fruit, vegetables or vegetable positions do so with structures that “harmonize” with the facade. “Enjoy and Buy”. At this point the question is obvious: for what? What is the purpose of change? Raúl CamposCouncilor in the area of Commerce and Consumption, explains it clearly: the objective is to “improve aesthetics and order the area”, a change with which the session wants to go beyond the strictly visual and favor the local economy. “We are working to create an attractive and orderly commercial environment that invites you to enjoy the municipality and buy.” And from now on? The City Council wants to go beyond Benalmádena Pueblo and extend the initiative to other nuclei. The newspaper South keep it up That the change will arrive in Arroyo de la Honey and Benalmádena Costa, although the aesthetic details that will be applied in each area must still be agreed. The idea, the City Council insists, is to “respect the idiosyncrasy and personality of each urban nucleus” also adjusting to “the precepts of urban discipline” of the general plan. The Consistory emphasizes that decisions are made “with the consensus” of the Association of Merchants and Entrepreneurs (Aceb) and the open shopping center. The municipality already has a ordinance that regulates the terraces of the watchmen and the facades of the establishments and marks some guidelines on elements such as umbrellas or awnings. For example, it establishes that they must “harmonize” with the facade and its color has to authorize the community of owners. Beyond Benalmádena. Benalmádena is not the only town that has proposed to homogenize the exterior furniture of its terraces and shops. Throughout the last years similar initiatives have emerged (not always with equal success) in Salou, Malaga, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Algeciras, Mieres, Estepona either Marínto name just a handful of examples. The objective: that the most visible areas have some harmony and end colored pastiches. Images | Benalmádena City Council 1 and 2 In Xataka | Aragon’s ski stations are sentenced to death. One of them has had an idea: the biggest tobogan in Europe

A video game is recruiting the brightest minds of Russia for war. The problem is that they still go to school

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Russia gave a blow this week revealing a video of a few minutes. In it, the interior of what they have called as “the largest secret factory of combat drones on the planet”, located at some point in Alabuga, in the Tartaristan region, was prisoned. The piece showed us a huge army of drones with their workers assembling the pieces. However, there was something else: most were not adults, They were teenagers. A video game and a war. History is part of an investigation and exclusive to Russian media in exile The Insider. Apparently, since the summer of 2022, under the appearance of an educational and entertainment platform called Berloga (“Bear Dirridge”), Russia has been recruiting hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren in a progressive technical-military training system focused on the development and use of drones, camouflaged after video gamescompetitions and programs with academic incentives. The game, approved Personally by Putin And symbolically presented in the busy city of Sebastopol, introduces children into a children’s narrative in which “smart bears” They defend The vital resource of “bees” insects, a barely concealed allegory where bears are Russia and Ukrainian bees. From the first levels of the game to participation in face -to -face competitions and the physical assembly of drones, children are guided along a route designed to transform them In technicians and operators useful for the Russian military complex, all while assures them that “they should not say that it is for war.” From command to the welder. Berloga is not an isolated initiative, but the entrance door to a broader educational network built by the so -called agency for Kremlin strategic initiatives, in which They converge NTI Technology Clubs, the TALANT student achievement monitoring platform and the national archipelago intensive. These programs are connected to each other through competitions As great challengesin which thousands of students work in solutions to “technological” problems (which often have undercover military purposes) proposed by companies associated with the Russian State. Screen capture of the concept of a superpesado launch vehicle with a water -based launch system from the “Large Challenges” program Privileged minds to war. He counted the medium That the students who stand out are rewarded with extra points in the national exam, presidential scholarships and direct entries in companies in the defense sector, such as Geoscan, Yakovlev or Almaz-Agent. The tasks presented to them range from the Improvement of the navigationN from UAVS to the design of unmanned vehicles launched from floating platforms, through automated drone detection systems and laser loaders for tactical use. Although J is requiredUstify the projects As if they were for civil use, the students themselves admit That it is a formality: the real objective is military. Children engineers. Adolescents who participate in these training skills and networks not only program or design prototypes, but some (related to research for themselves) They train soldiersthey set up FPV drones and work to undercover military laboratories in exchange for contracts by work with the consent of their parents. The components they use in the contests are the same as they then use in the operational versions of their creations. In other words, knowledge flows directly to the front. Dual technology. In one of the cases, a young man named Stas developed a kamikaze drone low cost to replace current models of the Russian army whose price exceeds $ 10,000 per unit. Another, Vladislav, collaborated with a state company for Test war teams electronics about its own air platform. Companies, Like Geoscan or Yakovlev, segment their operations between civil and military branches, a common practice that allows maintaining the legality facade against international sanctions. This structure of “dual technologies” is held by officials such as Vice Minister of Commerce Vasili Shpak, who argues that there is no longer a clear distinction Between the civil and the military. The official narrative line points to a future in which all technological innovation will be automatically usable for the war conflict. A photo of the Official Telegram Channel of Zarnitssa 2.0 Child Military Training Child involvement in these programs goes beyond technical learning. Here it seems Intensive archipelagowhich in its beginnings covered various sectors, and has been reconverted in an almost exclusively drone course. Includes exercises like Recognition, electronic evasion, drone launch from land stations or search for objectives with thermal cameras. In parallel, Berloga allied in 2024 with Zarnitssa 2.0the modern version of a Soviet military game. The program, financed with millions From rubles of the state budget, he has trained tens of thousands of schoolchildren between the ages of 7 and 21 In the use of weapons Compressed air, Wannera-47 rifles massers, drones flight and choice of military specialties such as Zapador, UAV operator or political instructor. Discrepancies. Some schools are They have complained that both students and teachers have been forced to participate. Zarnitsa It is managed For the Yunarmiya Youth Movement (Young Army), linked to the Ministry of Defense and that in 2025 will receive More than one billion of rubles in subsidies. For the Russian authorities, the objective It seems clear: Detect military talent from an early age and channel it to the defense industry. War pedagogy. There is much more, since research emphasizes that this mass and silent recruitment of minors for war purposes is being institutionalized with Explicit support of the Kremlin. Putin has ordered drone competitions for children since the age of 7, and new school subjects Centering national security include training with UAVs. The official goal is to achieve “technological sovereignty” by 2030, and today’s adolescents are expected to become the military operators of tomorrow. Officials such as the Deputy Minister of Education Dmitry Afanasyev defend The formation of children in military technology under the pretext that “there are no purely civil applications.” In His wordseven a agricultural drone operator You must have combat competitions, as in China. Thus, Russia is institutionalizing a war pedagogy where the child ceases to be a citizen in training and becomes an anticipated military resource. Rights of the … Read more

If the question is what China is giving Russia in the Ukraine War, we have news: a complete army

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At the beginning of July Bloomberg he took Some documents They showed how a little known firm based in Khabarovsk, at the eastern end of Russia, had emerged as one of the main drone manufacturers of the country. I did it thanks to a dense cooperation network Covering with Chinese companies. Now, Ukraine’s intelligence has shown something much bigger: Beijing is giving Moscow a 100% Made in China complete army. A new generation. The Ukraine Defense Intelligence Directorate (Gur) He has revealed The existence of a new type of Russian decoy drone manufactured entirely With Chinese componentsa disturbing milestone that shows the growing implication of Beijing in the Kremlin war machine. Although for years it is has documented the use of foreign pieces (including Chinese) in Russian arsenalthis would be the first time that an unmanned aerial system used in the Ukrainian front is completely built with technology from a single country: China. Chinese shahed. The drone, of the delta and reduced size, reminds superficially to the Shahed-136 Iranianbut it works mainly as a decoy to saturate Ukrainian aerial defenses, although it can also incorporate an explosive load of up to 15 kilos. The existence of this platform confirms that Russia has not only perfected its saturation tactics With drones, but has also consolidated new technological supply chains that avoid international sanctions. All the components and blocks of the drone are of Chinese origin Commercial components. Of the two drones recovered by the Gur, one of them contained exclusively Chinese pieceswhile the other included two still unidentified components. According to The investigationalmost half of the pieces of the first came from a single company: Cuav Technology Co., a Chinese firm based in Guangdong that It specializes in open source created systems. The components were flight controllers with autopilot functions, navigation modules, antennae and air speed sensors. The most notable is that this company, which in 2022 had publicly announced restrictions on the sale of products both to Russia and Ukraine to avoid its military use, has ended up starring in The technical nucleus of a new Russian weapon. The paradox. The contradiction is even more striking to know that Russia had previously presented a supposedly native vertical take -off drone that turned out to be a direct adaptation of a Cuav acquired product acquired Through Aliexpress. The fundamental difference with the new lure does not lies in the origin of its parts, but that it is now a Russian endogenous production based completely on Chinese technology, not a simple direct purchase. Some of the Chinese components found in a new Russian decoy drone AI and tactical expansion. Chinese involvement is not limited to passive electronics. Ukraine has documented The use of artificial intelligence in Russian drones as the V2Uwhich uses algorithms to Identify and select Objectives autonomously. This drone used a Chinese Leetop A203 minicomputer and a central processor with Jetson Orin de Nvidia module, which reveals a combination of Western and Chinese hardwareused by Russia to incorporate AI capacities in its operations. In addition, Beijing has contributed to the development of fiber optic drones long journey, allowing Russia to extend the scope of these platforms up to 50 kilometers. This technology offers immunity against electronic interference and signal blockages, in addition to overcoming geographical obstacles that limit control via radio frequency. Thus, Beijin has endowed Kremlin with key tools to maintain Your tactical advantageespecially in an increasingly conditioned conflict for The electronic war and the saturation of enemy sensor. Foreign pieces war. We had gone counting In the previous months. Actually, the drone lure manufactured in China is only one more piece within the vast Russian war gear assembled with foreign components. The Gur has recovered multiple Russian arms systems (such as Shahed-136 drones, cruise missiles S-8000 flagcommand vehicles with Radar 9S932-1attack helicopters KA-52 and missiles KH-101) that They contained pieces Native of the United StatesIran, Taiwan, Switzerland, Japan or South Korea. In all cases, the parties escaped the export controls and ended Integrated in armament deployed on Ukraine. Even complete systems have been detected, Like a laser of Chinese origin designed for Brink Ukrainian droneswhose presence in Russia was confirmed after circulating videos on social networks. This transfer, identical to systems already provided By China to Iranreinforces the hypothesis of an active and sustained collaboration between both authoritarian regimes in the development of sophisticated weapons. China and implications. Although Beijing claims to maintain a neutral position before the war in Ukraine, its behavior seems the opposite. Filtered statements This month in CNN they revealed that Foreign Minister Wang Yi confessed to a meeting with the EU Foreign Policy Head of Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, which Beijing “cannot accept a Russian defeat” because it would allow the United States to focus their attention on containing China. In private, admitted that a prolonged war could benefit Beijing by distracting Washington from their strategic interests in Asia. This geopolitical calculation does not seem trivial: it reflects that for China, Ukraine is not a secondary issue, but A key piece on the global power board. His strategy seems to focus on keeping Russia sufficiently strong to erode Western influence, without compromising enough to become target of direct sanctions. The axis and the transformation of the conflict. Plus: unlike North Korea support (focused on Artillery, missiles and troops), the Chinese contribution It aims to silently mold the technological architecture of the conflict. The supply of microelectronics, complete platforms, AI tools and critical components has allowed Russia reconfigure your economy In war code and adapt your military industry to resist in the long term. A pattern that suggests that the flow of Chinese technology will not only continue, but will probably intensify, extending, perhaps, throughout the Russian arsenal. With Moscow Diplomatically isolated and financially pressedthe convenience alliance with Beijing is emerging as one of the most decisive variables in the future of war. Image | Gur In Xataka | It is not that the war is asymmetric, is that Russia is attacking with … Read more

A huge secret factory is tilting the balance in the Ukraine War. Russia is multiplying a relentless army

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The war in Ukraine has entered a stage of tactical saturation where volume, rather than sophistication, has become The decisive weapon. Russia It has increased And much the use of Shahed drone swarms in Russian territory under the Geran denominationmanaging to pierce Ukrainian defenses at an unprecedented rate. How much? A video has revealed what is about to happen. Swarm war. I remembered The Financial Times that, according to official data, between April and June 2025, the percentage of drones that managed to impact their objectives reached 15%tripling the success rate of the previous three months. It We count: On the night of July 9, he marked a record when Russia launched 728 Drones and Shahed, along with Kinzhal and Iskander Balistic missiles, in a clear attempt to saturate and overflow the Ukrainian aerial defenses. This tactic demonstrates that the massive use of cheap platforms can overcome expensive and sophisticated defense systems, exposing a critical point: the imbalance between cost and effectiveness in modern combat. Gera-3 and a lethal machine. The technical improvements introduced by Moscow in their drones have raised their effectiveness notably. Among them stands out The Geran-3a vturbocharged arizing capable of reaching speeds of up to 800 km/h in chopped, which makes it almost invulnerable to the traditional anti -aircraft weapons mounted in trucks, such as heavy machine guns. In addition, current shahed can fly to greater altitudeavoiding the optimal impact areas of terrestrial defenses. This change, rather than reflecting Ukrainian weakening, shows the Russian capacity to quickly adapt its attack doctrine and exploit the weaknesses of the adversary. The Night wavespersistent and combined with more sophisticated missiles, they seek to wear not only the technical defenses of Ukraine, but also the moral of their population and force political concessions through exhaustion. A horror factory. And this is where Russia’s last announcement appears. Moscow He has revealed to the world which describes as its greatest and more Secret drone plant: Alabuga’s industrial complex, in the Tartaristan region, where Geran suicide drones are assembled. The plant, located in the Yelabuga Industrial Park and officially launched in 2023, appears In a video of the Russian military channel Zvezda, who does not spare to show adolescents operating work stations and manipulating technological pieces in assembly lines. According to Timur ShagivalievExecutive Director of the Special Economic Zone of Alabuga, the installation has multiplied by nine its planned production, reaching a monthly rate of 5,200 units Between attack drones and lure models, which converts it, he says, “the largest plant of its kind in the world.” The scene, no doubt, is disturbing: teenagers building weapons designed to kill a great distance, while the Kremlin presumes a relentless manufacturing capacity. Geran-2, cheaper. If the third version is the most advanced, its predecessor, the direct version of the Shahed-136 Iranian, is the drone Factory Key. We talked about a 3.5 -meter device with a 50 kg eye, a cruise speed of 300 km/Hy a range of 1,800 km. Its estimated cost of between $ 35,000 and $ 49,000 makes it an affordable massive destruction tool, ideal to saturate enemy defensive systems. Compared to western interceptors such as Patriot missile (valued at several million dollars per unit) The Geran-2 embodies an asymmetric disruption: cheap, resistant, easy to manufacture in mass and with a devastating psychological effect. New strategic threshold. To the Russian drone industry, with that Alabuga factory At the head, news has been added that has put Ukraine alert. Russia prepares to achieve unprecedented attack capacity: the simultaneous launch of 2,000 drones against kyivaccording to the German general Christian FreudingHead of the Working Group for Ukraine of the Ministry of Defense of Germany. This figure, which completely redefines the scale of the unmanned war 2 million FPV and 30,000 long -range drones or lure, According to reports of Ukrainian external intelligence (Szru). Overwhelmed defense. Ukraine, meanwhile, has responded to all this machinara with a combination of classic techniques In interceptor drones. In fact, Zelenski recently announced a according to Eric Schmidtformer executive director of Google and current leader of Swift Beat, for the co -production of hundreds of thousands of drones, including interceptors. According to the Ukrainian president, these devices are already Broving dozens of Shaheds In each attack and begin to demonstrate good results, with hundreds of confirmed eliminations in just one week. In any case, to be effective against the new flight profile of Russian drones, these interceptors must reach speeds of at least 200 km/hy altitudes of up to 6 km, capacities that allow to counteract saturation attacks that easily overflow the Ukrainian mobile units armed with technology from the mid -twentieth century. Adaptation without truce. The scenario is part of a dynamic of continuous evolution Between offensive and defensive: A cycle of innovation and counter-innovation that accelerates exponentially. Andrew Turner, former Air Marshal of the Royal Air Force and current director of Saibre Capital, summed up in the Times This dynamic as a “persistent staircase and countermeasures that in Ukraine is renewed every 14 days.” Thus, the conflict has become an accelerated laboratory of unmanned air war, where the decisive factor is no longer the number of fighters or tanks, but the ability to produce and adapt swarms of autonomous machines at a faster pace that the enemy can respond. A single color. In short, the drone war In Ukraine it has reached a new level of complexity. On the one hand, Russia has managed to integrate successfully volume, speed and saturation to create a constant threat that escapes traditional air defense schemes. On the other, Ukraine, with foreign aid, begins to build a defensive layer equally decentralized and reactive based on interceptor drones. In this confrontation of swarms, the balance does not lean simply by the number of weapons, but by the speed with which each side Learn, adapt and scale Your production. The aerial battlefield has become an industrial and algorithmic competition, where software, distributed manufacturing and AI are replacing cannons and missiles as decisive tools of … Read more

War horses are over

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We are at a time when Wars dispute with dronesexchange of missiles that impact “Shields” about cities and maritime battles are prepared starring ‘ghosts’. The main one World Military Power He has made an ad, and has nothing to do with technology: the United States army will begin to withdraw his war horses. Because even if they seem like the past, the US was using horses in the war until relatively recently. Short. Through a releasethe US Army has announced a reduction in its “Equinos of military work” program, or MWE for its acronym in English. This program involved the use of horses, mules and donkeys in military facilities and, as of this month, equine operations will have an end in Fort Irwin (California), Fort Huachua (Arizona), Fort Riley (Kansas), Fort Sill (Oklahoma) and Fort Hood (Texas). Horses in special forces. Police forces continue to use horses and it is something that we constantly see in Patrol work or even in riot tasks, but talking about war horses leads us to another era. Perhaps we can think of the United States cavalry by massacrating the Native Americans, but horses have really been used in modern conflicts. In the American invasion of Afghanistan, the 5th group of special forces He used war horses and mules as a means of transport in the rugged mountain land in the north of the country. Vehicles were unchanged and horses They could easily overcome The terrain. American soldiers on horseback in Afghanistan Change of priorities. That was the last documented example of the use of cavalry by US Army And, in the decision to do without these units, several factors enter. On the one hand, we have a change in social sensitivity, where we care more about animal welfarewith sources that point out some difficulties in maintaining optimal care for many horses in military bases. Also Negligence (It also occurs outside the army, as at the Seville Fair). On the other hand, of course, money enters. We constantly have news about new US weapons and we see that the tendency of the Department of Defense is to focus its resources on advanced capabilities such as Antimile defenses, anti -products or the Hypersonic armament. Maintaining horses is the opposite of direct military efficiency. A money. The Army itself speaks of this in its statement, stating that this initiative “will save the army two million dollars annually and will allow the funds and soldiers dedicated to the MWE programs to be redirected to more priority preparation and combat.” Two million dollars within the US defense budgets is A tear in an oceanbut it is true that it is not cheap to keep a horse and that all that staff can now devote themselves to work for which the army receives a greater benefit. Where will horses go? From the military arm, they have pledged to “guarantee a transfer without stumbling” of those animals. The managers will have a year to transfer, facilitate the adoption or donate the MWE to new owners who will be “investigated according to the federal law”, with veterinarians supervising the process to guarantee both the proper relocation and the well -being of the animals. According to Task & Purpose236 horses, donkeys and mules were still maintained, which are the ones that must find a new home. They will not disappear at all. However, the MWE program will not die. The Army will maintain some horses for ceremonial acts, such as military parades or funerals, with some units held in The Old Guard, in the Washington Military District, and in the joint base of San Antonio, in Texas. In the end, the horses had been relegated to mountain missions or extremely inaccessible land, but the military tradition maintained the term of “cavalry units“In some countries, although those units You will no longer ride animalsbut mechanized units. Now, we are talking about the horses that the army maintained. There are other US armed arms that continue to use horses, such as agents patrolling the border in Texas and other branches of the mounted police and rescue equipment. Images | Sgt. Chris Spence In Xataka | For decades horses have been a tourist claim from Malaga. Now they have the days counted

It is not that the war is asymmetric, is that Russia is attacking with thermobárica and Ukraine with pellet shaheds with pellets

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The Ukraine War has been a pioneer in the massive drone usebut over the months the devices have had updates that have made them machines increasingly lethal. One of them was recently counted on the use of the double impact After the arrival of the Shahed. Now Russia has multiplied the scope of its deadliest weapon, and Ukraine can barely answer. Thermobaric load. The war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous phase with the growing use by Russia of Unidirectional Attack drones equipped with thermobárica ojas. These devices, commonly known Cempty pumpsthey disperse a cloud of aerosol fuel before detonating, generating an explosion that reaches temperatures greater than 2,000 ºC and that, in addition to razing structures, consumes the oxygen of the environment and causes devastating effects on human bodies. According to testimonies collected in Ukraine, such as that of Commander Oleksiy of the Territorial Defense Forces, the explosive burdens that were previously around 40 kg have reached 90 kgduplicating its destructive capacity. Although his unit has not yet managed to reduce these larger drones, their appearance in military reports since end of last year Point out a significant change in the danger scale. These systems can not only destroy several -story houses and buildings, but they are particularly lethal in closed spaces, where the expansive wave and vacuum caused have devastating effects. Russian adaptation. The use of thermobaric ammunition is not new in Russian military doctrine. They were already denounced in previous conflicts as in Afghanistan and Chehenia, and more recently in the first bars of the large -scale invasion of Ukraine with systems such as the RuncoCohetes TOS-1A. However, the novelty now lies in the delivery medium: Russia has begun to integrate this type of weapons into Shahed-136 dronescapable of “loungeing” about an objective before impacting. This tactical transformation allows Moscow Expand the number of high -power attacks without depending on larger and more vulnerable platforms to radars. According to Kateryna Stepanenko, from the War Study Institute, this adaptation has allowed Russia to intensify the bombings to civil infrastructureas recently happened In Járkovalready military positions in the front. The most disturbing thing is that these weapons, being integrated into modest but precise platforms, allow much greater and, of course, more difficult to intercept than conventional systems. Limited responses. In response to this growing threat, Ukraine has intensified its efforts to neutralize production centers of these explosives. In early July, the Ukrainian army attacked a Russian factory dedicated to the manufacture of Thermobárica ojivas for Shahedin an attempt to stop the supply in origin. In this way, the magnitude of the challenge does nothing but grow. Moscow has begun to launch massive attacks combining hundreds of missiles, explosive drones and lure systems designed to exhaust Kyiv’s anti -aircraft defense reserves. In a single day, the Ukrainian Air Force reported a Attack with almost 270 drones and artifact lure, of which they managed to demolish approximately two thirds. Although these interception percentages are high, the constant saturation of these attacks puts in tension defensive capabilities of Ukraine, which cannot replace its air defense systems with the same speed with which Russia can manufacture its kamikaze drones. A new solution: pellets. They counted in Insider that the Ukrainian defense is forming a new type of rifle ammunition. Unlike traditional projectiles, these bullets Anti -Didstock 5.56 mm They contain a load that, after traveling a certain distance, is fragmented into multiple pellets, increasing the probability of impacting small aerial targets. Developed by The Brave1 programpart of the Ukrainian military innovation ecosystem, these ammunition seek to replace the current tactics of demolishing drones with 12 caliber shotguns, a method that requires units transporting additional weapons and dangerously approaching the target. With these ammunition, the infantry soldier will be able to use his standard weapon to face aerial threats more quickly, safely and efficiently, which represents a key adaptation in the tactical evolution of the conflict. New ammunition. The new Ukrainian design, which has not been in detail, is described as a personalized design eye dispersed dense fragments at high speed, allowing the shooter to cover a larger volume with a single shot. This type of ammunition transforms the conventional rifle into a portable anti -aircraft defense tool, compact and available for any infant, without the need for specialized resentment or additional logistics. The declared objective is that each soldier in the front can carry this type of cartridges and react quickly to sudden aerial threats. Artisanal solution Interestingly, the idea of Anti -Didron bullets is not exclusive to Ukraine. Russia too has experienced with improvised versions, with cartridges of 5.45 mm modified for AK Rifles. The ammunition carries a thermoretractile tube that contains four pellets, designed to disperse after the shot. In fact, several videos They show Russian soldiers manually manufacturing these projectiles, cutting tips and assembling the tubes in impromptu tables. The initiative reflects the same urgency for counteracting drones without depending on sophisticated, expensive or scarce systems. The future and ethical dilemma. Regarding the integration of Thermobaric ammunition In drones, not only expands the scale of the conflict, but also raises new legal and moral dilemmas. These weapons, for their ability to cause indiscriminate damage and extreme suffering, have been Controversy object in human rights organizations. Its systematic use in urban areas could be considered a war crime if the deliberate intention of attacking civilians is demonstrated. However, beyond the legal aspect, what is manifested is a dangerous technical evolution: Russia has managed to combine three key elements (lethality, low cost and high availability) in a formula that can redefine conventional war. While Ukraine and Western Allies They seek to counteract This threat through preventive attacks, improvements in detection systems and the development of new countermeasures, the technological career between attacker and defender is accelerating alarmingly, and increasingly asymmetric. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian cities and their population continue to pay the highest price, exposed to a type of offensive that combines Surgical precision with a level of destruction comparable … Read more

On the anniversary of the incident on Perejil Island, the tension has returned. So Spain has deployed a war ship

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July 2002. A group of Moroccan soldiers occupies the uninhabited Perejil isletlocated a few meters from the North African coast. That caused an immediate military response from Spain to restore the status quo. The crisisbrief but intense, tense to the fullest relations between the two countries and forced an international mediation that culminated with the demilitarization of the islet and a tacit agreement to keep it free of official presence, even today of the diplomatic fragility in the Strait. In fact, the tension has risen again. A new climb. Yes, the most delicate strip of the Western Mediterranean, the Strait of Gibraltarit is again in the center of a geopolitical pulse between Spain and Morocco, marked by a succession of diplomatic, operational and symbolic gestures that have reactivated old ghosts, especially around the Islet of Perejil. First it was The confidential the one who revealed a “discomfort.” Apparently, the recent participation of Delegate of the Polisario Front In the National Congress of the Popular Party it has served as a trigger for a series of Moroccan measures, which include the sudden closure of commercial customs with Ceuta and Melilla, An official letter of the Istiqlal party demanding the popular leader of his adhesion to the Moroccan Autonomy Plan for the Western Sahara, and The reappearance In Castillejos of the Committee for the Defense of the Causes of the Kingdom, an organization linked to Rabat’s intelligence services and headed by the controversial former senator Yahya Yahya. Return of nationalism. In fact, they counted in an interview In Spanish that with an inflammatory rhetoric and a clear will to provoke, this committee has announced its intention to celebrate a Symbolic meeting in the Islet of Perejil with the explicit objective of claiming the “territorial unity” under the amparo of King Mohamed VI. Although the landing did not occur, the staging was carefully designed: Photographs with the islet in the background, nationalist slogans and direct references to the policy of the Popular Party. The coincidence with the Anniversary of the Occupation Moroccan of 2002 and the issuance of A documentary miniseries On that episode, a production that has not liked in Morocco and tried to censor without success, underline the symbolic load of the gesture and its propaganda dimension. Furor frigate Spain responds. It Europasur counted. In a climate of prudent but firm containment, the General Staff of the Defense has deployed The maritime action ship Fury In the vicinity of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and of the island of Alborán, within the framework of routine operations of naval presence and coastal control. The surveillance of the peñones and islets of Spanish sovereignty on the African coast not only responds to reasons of border security and fight against illicit traffic, but also to the need to maintain the Territorial integrity In front of maneuvers that, although covered with theatricality, seek to test Spanish resilience and tighten the diplomatic line. Moroccan strategy No doubt, parallelism with the situation prior to the parsley crisis in 2002 is, at least, disturbing. So, Morocco took advantage of the social seizure In the ejido after a wave of racist violence to rehearse a territorial occupation. Today, episodes such as Pacheco Torre disturbanceswith these clashes between Spanish neighbors and Moroccan citizens, they could be interpreted by Rabat as useful internal cracks to exert pressure. Logic seems to be repeated: use the fragility of the Spanish domestic context to reinforce its thesis About the Western Sahara and his aspirations about Ceuta, Melilla and other territories under Spanish sovereignty. Symbolism and provocation. In short, while the Spanish government maintains its Official adhesion to the Moroccan Autonomy Plan for Sahara, the Popular Party and other political forces are committed to returning to positions closer to the resolutions of the United Nations, feeding a debate that Rabat instrumentalizes To condition alliances and project strength. The recent one Group activation Moroccan nationalists, the mobilization of figures close to power and explicit threats against Spanish political actors seems to be part of a broader strategy of hybrid pressure. Of course, the Moroccan flag does not wave in Perejil, but the only attempt to plant it is enough to remember how fragile that thin line remains between the propaganda gesture and the real diplomatic crisis. Image | EFORGE, General Staff of Defense, Carlosvdehabsburg In Xataka | The Strait of Gibraltar was very different eight million years ago. So different that there were two In Xataka | A 15 kilometers tunnel to join the Strait of Gibraltar: the pioneer and crazy idea raised 100 years ago

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