Russia at war, at the Olympics, and on the pitch: From drone strikes to Catherine’s legacy
It’s night, the darkness is thick, and then the drones roar overhead. Again. Another Ukrainian city has been jolted awake by Russia’s air strikes, and once more rescue workers are digging with bare hands through concrete and shattered glass. At 3:17 a.m., a local emergency team managed to pull a tiny baby alive from the ruins. A moment of pure relief amid all the horror. Because as the war between Russia and Ukraine edges towards yet another grim milestone, it’s often those small, trembling seconds that tell the real story.
At the same time, massive power cuts are reported in several regions. Hospitals run on generators, water pumps stand still, and families sit in the dark listening for the next blast. Russia officially claims one of its mines has been attacked – but no matter who fired first, the consequences are the same: dead civilians, shattered apartment blocks, and a population forced to rebuild from scratch over and over again. I’ve been following the conflict closely, and let me put it bluntly: this coming winter will be the harshest yet.
What’s happening with Russia’s national football team and the Olympics?
While the bombs are falling, Russia’s national football team is fighting on a very different pitch – the diplomatic one. The team has been kicked out of almost all international tournaments, and the chance of seeing Russian stars at a European Championship or World Cup finals any time soon is exactly zero. It’s a far cry from the days when Shchennikov and co. filled stadiums with red, white and blue.
And what about Russia at the Olympics? The situation there is just as murky. Sports federations are keeping the door ajar, but only for neutral athletes with no flag or anthem. Imagine running the 100-metre final – and not even being allowed to point to your own nation. For most Russian competitors, it feels like second‑class participation, but for some, it’s the only route to the top. The question is whether sport can ever be separated from politics when Russia’s military machine is rumbling across Eastern Europe.
- Dead and wounded after the latest drone attack on a residential block in the Kharkiv region.
- Power cuts affect more than 200,000 households – water and heating are next in line.
- Russia’s national football team now only plays friendlies against countries like Iran and Syria.
- Russia at the Olympics in Paris 2024: just 15 neutral athletes – an all‑time low.
Catherine II of Russia – an empress at war
Whenever you talk about Russia’s historic dreams of power, Catherine II of Russia always comes up. The German princess who became an autocratic empress expanded the empire south and west with both cunning and an iron fist. She modernised St Petersburg, corresponded with Voltaire, and gave her name to one of the most brilliant eras in Russian history. But she also waged bloody wars against the Ottoman Empire and carved up Poland.
The comparison with today’s Russia is hard to ignore. Once again there’s a leader in the Kremlin who wants to restore greatness and influence – only with drones instead of cavalry. The difference is that Catherine never had to explain to her subjects why young soldiers came home in zinc coffins. Today, images from the front line stream directly into our living rooms, and no one can close their eyes to the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The rescuer who dug out that little baby is called Oleksandr. He’s done it ten times before. Afterwards he said: “I’m not whole. I’m just a man who can’t sleep until I’ve searched for the living.” That’s what Russia’s new war feels like on the ground. Not like geopolitical chess, but like an endless night filled with small, trembling glimmers of light – a baby’s cry, a generator shutting down, a single penalty that never gets taken. And a historical echo from Catherine’s era, reminding us that power always comes at a price.