I.

Forwarded From Belkovsky

I.

The growing nervousness in and around the Kremlin is connected, chiefly, with the following.

Until recently, V. V. Putin sincerely believed that he and his beloved Daddy (Donald Trump) had agreed on everything (well, almost) on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage. And that all that remained was to wait a bit while the American leader used his unstoppable levers of pressure on Kyiv (intelligence information + air defense / missile defense means) to bring the (non)war to an end on terms more or less acceptable to the Kremlin. Including the sacramental withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from Donbas (the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration).

But lately, Mr. Putin and Co. have begun to realize that the White House is just sitting there doing nothing, which means there is some terrible catch. And by now it is clear what it is.

A) The techno-billionaires who influence President Trump have their own separate interests in the Ukrainian war, and those interests are on the Ukrainian side. This war is a unique testing ground for the newest military technologies being developed by the corporations of the tech magnates. Plus: an exclusive source of big data on modern warfare. It is no coincidence that Palantir's capitalization (Peter Thiel) has grown 17-fold over 4 years of war, to $330 billion. SpaceX (Elon Musk) is also gaining considerably from this, which is especially important on the eve of the corporation's record IPO.

B) Daddy himself has now joined his techno-allies on this set of issues. As CNBC has just informed us, Foundation Future Industries, a company connected to Mr. Trump's family, more precisely to his second son Eric, is actively testing the humanoid robots it produces in the combat zone in Ukraine. It turns out that "Foundation received broader international recognition in early 2026 after sending prototypes of its Phantom MK-1 robots to Ukraine for a pilot demonstration. According to the company, this was the first known case of humanoid robots being used in a combat zone."

So what "spirit of Anchorage" could there possibly be? Hence Putin's discordant "hooray," trying to conceal the feeling of oppressive uncertainty.

II.

On the very day of the 2026 Champions League final, where Paris's PSG painfully edged out London's Arsenal, Liverpool FC announced the dismissal of its head coach, the Dutchman Arne Slot. And the appointment in his place of the Basque Andoni Iraola (former Bournemouth manager). A coincidence? I don't think so (c).

Mr. Iraola is a typical representative of the "separatist" (Catalonia + Basque Country) school of (supposedly) Spanish football. Other key heroes of this school: Luis Enrique (PSG); Mikel Arteta (Arsenal); Pep Guardiola; Xabi Alonso; Unai Emery; Luis de la Fuente. That is: a modern coach must not simply be Spanish by passport, but from the "separatist school." And not from the Castilian one, where Real Madrid is. The conceptual basis of which was precisely formulated N years ago by the cult figure Carlo Ancelotti: take the world's most expensive footballers + a coach who does not interfere with them playing to their full strength.

"Separatist school" vs. Castilian is, roughly speaking, soft power against hard power. Intellectual David against a super-powerful Goliath. Right now David is in fashion, and so there you have it. It is clear why separatist Xabi Alonso's attempt to head Real (Madrid) in 2025 / 26 immediately turned out to be bitterly unsuccessful. The system is incompatible, as our mathematical partners say.

And the brilliant Irony of History here is this. It was the Dutch, in fact, who founded the "separatist school" in Spain. First Rinus Michels, who arrived to coach Barcelona back in 1971. Then Johan Cruyff. Who demonstratively refused in 1973 to play for Real because of the club's connection to dictator Francisco Franco. Only for Barcelona. And who named his son strictly the Catalan way, Jordi (not the Castilian Jorge), in honor of Saint George, the patron saint of Catalonia. So, a little hurtful, Arne Slot?

About this + other important things today - the freshest NaBelO.

Ours with Natalya Vlashchenko.

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Results of the week's events with Stanislav Belkovsky and Natasha Vlashchenko.

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