An article about 29 refugees from Ukraine, who are currently helping to assemble drones for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was published by the Canadian media company CBC. All of them were employed by the Atlas Aerospace enterprise in Riga. For example, Yulia Zarytska, who worked in a library in Dnipro, and now lubricates drone components with silicone glue, or Oleksandra Lyashkovets, who worked at a bread factory in Ukraine, and now assembles drones. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Atlas Aerospace has already sent 400 unmanned systems to Ukraine. The head of the company is Ivan Tolchynskyi, a former resident of Donetsk, a soldier in the Israeli army and a mountaineer. He created the production of drones for the needs of rescuers. Now Atlas drones have learned to track Russian equipment in Ukraine and groups of occupiers. Tolchynskyiʼs production continues to expand, because the effective practice of using drones in Ukraine has contributed to the fact that dozens of states are now buying them ― and they are always needed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Now the entrepreneur has two goals: to reduce the cost of drones and to develop kamikaze drones that can move in flocks. And, as a result, to employ even more Ukrainians who were deprived of a normal life by the Russian invasion.
Many foreigners mistakenly believed that the Russian war in Ukraine was a natural desire of a normal state to guarantee its security ― in fact, surrounded by false conclusions and personal and social complexes, this invasion is a manifestation of an ossified imperial consciousness and will determine a lot in the future of Russia. Professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University Eliot Cohen writes about this in the final project of The Wall Street Journal for 2022. The attempt to capture Ukraine was the culmination of the imperial restoration project in Russia. For several decades, Russians were fed with fables about the countryʼs omnipotence and the right to own more land than it does now. Russians have become accustomed to such a discourse, instead turning a blind eye to the slowdown in economic development and the elimination of political freedoms. The short war was supposed to reinforce the imperial myth, but instead showed the pervasive corruption of the Russian government and the paranoia of its leaders. If earlier many countries were in solidarity with Russiaʼs demands, now the Russian Federation has turned into an outcast on most world platforms, retaining at least some influence except in Africa and some Asian countries. The predicted future for Russia is to become a vassal of China, to which even a smaller and weaker Turkey can impose conditions. Perhaps the series of failures that Russia has already experienced and will definitely experience will force it to embark on the path of reforms, writes Cohen, but the local society will be weakened for this. Centuries of authoritarianism and decades of totalitarianism have left their mark. There is simply no one to reform Russia: representatives of the so-called liberal opposition have either left the country, are in prison, or have been killed. Therefore, the scientist considers two options for the future more realistic for Russia. The first is a civil war and the possible disintegration of the country. The emergence of centers of influence among military and paramilitary organizations is in favor of this scenario. But the second scenario is more likely ― after an armistice or a crushing defeat, the system of power in Russia will be preserved. Of course, Putin may fall out of the window under mysterious circumstances, as has happened more than once in similar states under such conditions, and then some general of the conservative faction may take his place. This alternative is more dangerous, as Russia will be the humiliated, defeated party, and will be hungry for revenge. The Cold War, which de facto resumed this year, will continue ― although Russia is slowly weakening, it still remains a dangerous entity. However, the world has already been through all this. After the First World War, Winston Churchill wrote about Russia as a self-exile whose philosophy was hatred and death. However, the united West, in the end, prevailed in that confrontation. And will prevail now, Cohen is confident.