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 jolted awake by Russian airstrikes, and once more rescue workers dig 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 in the midst of all the horror. Because as the Russia-Ukraine war grinds toward yet another grim milestone, it’s often those small, trembling seconds that tell the real story.

Meanwhile, massive power outages are reported in several regions. Hospitals run on generators, water pumps sit idle, and in the dark, families huddle and listen for the next blast. Russia officially claims that one of its mines was 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 followed this conflict closely, and let me be blunt: this coming winter will be the hardest yet.

What’s happening with Russia’s national soccer team and the Olympics?

While the bombs fall, Russia’s national soccer team is fighting on a completely different pitch — the diplomatic one. The team has been kicked out of nearly all international tournaments, and the chance of seeing Russian stars at a European Championship or World Cup anytime soon is zero. It’s a huge contrast to the days when Shchennikov and company packed stadiums with red, white, and blue.

And what about Russia at the Olympics? The situation is just as murky. Sports federations are leaving the door ajar, but only for neutral athletes with no flag or anthem. Picture yourself running the 100-meter final — and you’re not even allowed to point to your own nation. For most Russian competitors, it feels like second-class participation, but for some, it’s the only path to the top. The question is whether sports can be separated from politics at all when Russia’s military machine is roaring across Eastern Europe.

• Dead and wounded from the latest drone strike on an apartment block in the Kharkiv region.
• Power cuts affecting over 200,000 households — water and heat are next in line.
• Russia’s national soccer team now only plays friendlies against countries like Iran and Syria.
• Russia at the Olympics in Paris 2024: only 15 neutral athletes — an all-time low.

Catherine II of Russia — an empress in wartime

Whenever you talk about Russia’s historic dreams of power, Catherine II of Russia always comes up. The German princess who became an absolute empress expanded the empire south and west with both shrewdness and an iron fist. She modernized St. Petersburg, corresponded with Voltaire, and lent 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 — just 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 lines stream directly into our living rooms, and no one can close their eyes to the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The rescuer who dug out that little baby is named Oleksandr. He’s done it ten times before. Afterward, 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, flickering glimmers of light — a baby’s cry, a generator stalling, a single penalty kick that never gets taken. And a historical echo from Catherine’s era, proving that power always comes with a price.