{"id":36323,"date":"2026-05-15T05:13:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/?p=36323"},"modified":"2026-05-15T05:13:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T04:13:19","slug":"15-mai-2026-kurznachrichten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaizen-blog.org\/en\/15-mai-2026-kurznachrichten\/","title":{"rendered":"15 May 2026 \u2013 Short News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Drone Dealers - How a Network for Combat Drones Emerged Behind Russian Hardware Store Brands!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Behind well-known Russian brands for power tools, generators, and garden equipment lies what appears to be a far larger business than previously known publicly. Our own investigations show that a network of companies connected to the brands H\u00fcter, Resanta, and Wichr maintains ties to the development and production of Russian combat drones used in the war against Ukraine. At the center stands the family of businessman Viktor Podtschufarov. Through multiple firms and corporate holdings, the trail leads to drone systems carrying the names \u201cGroza,\u201d \u201cSowa,\u201d \u201cSanoza,\u201d \u201cSlon,\u201d and \u201cNotschnaja Wedma.\u201d The same people and companies also repeatedly appear in connection with software used for drone guidance and artillery coordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A central role is played by the Moscow-based company \u201cInstrotech,\u201d formerly known as \u201cVertikal.\u201d The company is linked to the brands H\u00fcter and Resanta. Additional connections run through the company \u201cTechnoinvest\u201d to \u201cKreuss,\u201d which distributes products under the Wichr brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From that exact business environment, the trail continues directly into military projects. According to our investigations, the production association \u201cGlobus\u201d is also connected to the same corporate group. The \u201cGroza\u201d trademark and patents for suppressing enemy drones were registered there. Viktor Podtschufarov does not appear alone. His sons Ivan and Grigori Podtschufarov, along with Anna Sucharewa, also appear across various corporate structures and holdings. Grigori Podtschufarov is connected to \u201cTechnoinvest,\u201d which at one point held full ownership of \u201cInstrotech,\u201d formerly \u201cVertikal.\u201d At the same time, there were overlapping personnel connections with the production association \u201cGlobus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anna Sucharewa, meanwhile, appears within the orbit of the company \u201cMedia Effekt.\u201d That company holds patents for the programs \u201cGlas\u201d and \u201cGroza.\u201d These are software systems used for drone guidance and artillery targeting. Ivan Podtschufarov is connected to the company \u201cWysota.\u201d The trademark \u201cSowa\u201d is registered there - the name of a reconnaissance drone that, according to our investigations, is supplied to Russian military forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several different systems are now being developed under the name \u201cGroza.\u201d These include FPV drones as well as heavy attack drones. One system receiving particular attention is the combat drone \u201cSanoza,\u201d which according to developers can carry payloads of up to ten kilograms. Additional systems include the cargo copter \u201cSlon\u201d and the hexacopter \u201cNotschnaja Wedma,\u201d openly described in Russia as a counterpart to Ukrainian \u201cBaba Yaga\u201d drones. The \u201cNotschnaja Wedma\u201d reportedly includes thermal imaging cameras and can carry multiple mines. At the same time, the \u201cGlas\/Groza\u201d software is apparently now even being taught at Russian military academies. Russian state-aligned media outlets and military Telegram channels regularly report on deployments of these systems in the war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Operator of a Supercam S350 drone. Drones of this type can reportedly operate together with the new control system.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is also striking how heavily the ownership structures are now shielding themselves from scrutiny. Many of the companies involved have been converted into private joint-stock corporations. That makes it significantly harder to determine who actually stands behind individual firms and how financial connections operate. The same company names repeatedly appear throughout the network - \u201cVertikal,\u201d \u201cTechnoinvest,\u201d \u201cKreuss,\u201d \u201cGlobus,\u201d \u201cMedia Effekt,\u201d \u201cNowotech,\u201d and \u201cWysota.\u201d Taken together, the picture that emerges is that of a business network that spent years selling civilian technology products and now appears deeply integrated into military development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIn Operation\u201d<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Particularly remarkable is the apparent proximity to political and social power structures inside Russia. Publicly available images show Viktor Podtschufarov together with Metropolitan Georgi of the Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas Metropolis. In Russia, such connections are often viewed as signs of close relationships between business elites, regional power networks, and patriotic wartime projects. The case above all demonstrates how dramatically Russia\u2019s war economy has changed. Many systems are no longer emerging solely from traditional state defense conglomerates. Instead, entirely new military structures are developing around civilian technology companies. Firms that once mainly sold generators, tools, and garden equipment are now developing combat drones, reconnaissance systems, and artillery software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is precisely the real significance of these investigations. The war is no longer being sustained solely by giant state weapons manufacturers. Increasingly, military technologies are emerging from a network of private firms, consumer brands, and family-linked business structures that outwardly still resemble ordinary civilian trading companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FBI Director Kash Patel Shows Up Snorkeling at the Pearl Harbor Memorial - And the FBI Conceals the Trip<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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When Kash Patel traveled to Hawaii last summer, the FBI proudly released photos from visits to the Honolulu Field Office and meetings with local security agencies. What the official statements omitted was the part of the trip now causing visible disbelief even inside Washington. Just days later, Patel participated in what internal government emails described as a \u201cVIP snorkeling excursion\u201d around the USS Arizona - the sunken battleship at Pearl Harbor that still contains the remains of more than 900 American servicemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to internal emails, the tour was organized together with the military. Participants were explicitly warned not to touch the wreck under any circumstances. Access of this kind is normally heavily restricted. Snorkeling and diving around the USS Arizona are effectively prohibited for the public. The area is considered a military grave site and one of the most sensitive memorial locations in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes the situation especially explosive is that the FBI failed to mention the excursion in a single press release. The agency also concealed that Patel remained in Hawaii for two additional days after his official schedule had concluded. Critics now accuse him of increasingly blending official travel with private activities. Patel had already faced criticism over his use of government aircraft and conspicuous foreign trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even former military personnel reacted with visible irritation. Navy veteran Hack Albertson said such an excursion felt \u201clike a bachelor party inside a church.\u201d Pearl Harbor, he said, is not an ordinary place but a grave site. Other relatives of Pearl Harbor survivors were less outraged but openly questioned why ordinary family members do not receive similar access. The trip took place immediately after Patel\u2019s visit to New Zealand, where he opened the country\u2019s first standalone FBI office. Even there, controversy erupted after reports emerged that Patel had gifted local security officials non-functioning 3D-printed pistols - despite such items potentially violating local weapons laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read also our article: Diplomacy in a Hail of Bullets - How FBI Director Kash Patel Offended New Zealand With 3D Pistols<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the next incident is raising new questions about the behavior of the FBI director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trump Suddenly Defends Hundreds of Thousands of Chinese Students - And Turns His Own Movement Against Him<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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With only a few sentences, Donald Trump has unsettled the exact political base that spent years celebrating every hardline policy toward China. While parts of the Republican right continue mobilizing against Chinese students, visas, and universities, Trump has now openly rejected demands to ban Chinese students from the United States. Preventing roughly 500,000 Chinese students from attending American universities would be \u201cvery insulting\u201d to China, Trump declared. Yet the second sentence was even more remarkable. Remove half a million people from the university system, he said, and \u201cyou will watch that system collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means the very same president is now openly defending the enormous economic importance Chinese students hold for American universities. Many institutions now finance entire departments through international tuition payments, especially from China. Major research universities in particular would be financially far weaker without those revenues. Politically, however, Trump\u2019s statement appears as a direct contradiction of his own rhetoric over many years. During his first administration, he regularly warned about Chinese espionage at universities, spoke about technology theft, and tightened visa rules for Chinese students and researchers. Hardliners within the Republican Party still demand sweeping restrictions today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Trump suddenly sounds almost like university administrators and business leaders who have spent years warning about losing Chinese students. That is exactly why the statement is likely to create major anger within parts of the MAGA movement. While many there continue demanding harsh economic and political confrontation with Beijing, Trump is now openly stating that American universities are practically dependent on Chinese students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI Believed the Trump Cult\u201d - More and More Former Supporters Are Publicly Turning Against Him<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The number of former Trump voters publicly distancing themselves from Donald Trump continues to grow. Television programs, social media platforms, comment sections, and discussion forums are increasingly filled with statements that would have seemed almost unimaginable only a few years ago. One such statement is currently spreading especially widely online. A former hardcore Republican now says he owes an apology to all of America. He says he cannot believe he supported Donald Trump for so long. Trump, he says, is destroying the American Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man also describes his earlier enthusiasm for the movement. He attended numerous Trump rallies and proudly wore the red \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d cap. Today, he says he is ashamed of it. Even the memory of wearing that hat is now difficult for him to endure. In earlier years, such statements inside MAGA circles would immediately have been branded as betrayal. Yet they are now becoming visibly more common. Particularly striking is the fact that many former supporters do not explain their break with Trump through single political decisions, but through a broader feeling of disillusionment. Many openly write that they believed Trump, trusted him, and adopted his narratives - until they eventually felt they themselves had become part of a political cult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, it remains important not to mistake social media for all of American society. Online conflicts often appear louder and larger than they truly are outside digital platforms. Trump still maintains enormous support. Yet precisely these kinds of public reckonings show that the cracks within his once nearly unified movement are growing wider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rubio Indirectly Contradicts Trump - And Calls Ukraine the Strongest Army in Europe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n