J. Thomas

You may already know the long journey coffee takes from distant farms to expert roasters to your morning mug. Now add Russian airstrikes to that process. Across Ukraine, even under fire, people still brew. This is how they keep the ritual alive.

When the full-scale war began, businesses left Russia due to sanctions, while their departures across Ukraine were driven by the threat of Russian missile strikes. Now, big brands are coming back to Ukraine. Here’s how global companies are learning to operate under air-raid alerts—and sometimes, underground.

Between the two world wars, the British military began experimenting with radio-controlled aircraft for live gunnery practice, deploying a De Havilland biplane known as the Queen Bee. Its nickname “the drone” stuck, and what began as a disposable target has since evolved into the defining weapon of war in the twenty-first century.

When President John F. Kennedy stood in West Berlin in 1963 and declared “Ich bin ein Berliner,” his words rang out as a Cold War promise of protection. More than 60 years later, Berlin is again defined by sound—not speeches but sirens—as Europe rediscovers a warning system once thought obsolete.

Faced with Russia’s full-scale war, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (DIU) has emerged as a leading force. From defending Kyiv on day one to pioneering naval-drone raids that have downed Russian warships, helicopters, and even fighter jets, DIU might not spin spider webs—but its owl-and-sword emblem suggests something just as deadly.

This week, Ukrainian Independence Day events abroad will bring supporters together on every continent, from Tokyo to Toronto, and London to New York.