Ukraine has spent years using its drone arsenal to great effect, both in its wartime front with Russian forces and in penetrating deep into Russian territory for daring aerial attacks on fuel and commercial infrastructure. Now, Ukraine has a new target: Russian airports and Moscow’s commercial air travel industry. “Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a statement last week. 

Why focus on commercial air travel?
Zelenskyy’s threat to commercial air routes comes as part of Ukraine’s “effort to disrupt Russia’s economy” and “pressure Moscow to end the war,” said The Wall Street Journal. Ukraine has “vowed to avoid targeting airliners and civilian deaths.” Instead, it intends to circulate drones “near Russian airports, forcing air-traffic control to pause takeoffs and landings.” 

The strategy is “no longer simply a repetition of isolated, sporadic emergency alerts” that have shuttered Russian airways in the past, said Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Southern Command, to the Journal. Ukraine intends to “transition to constant pressure aimed at paralyzing civilian air traffic.”

The problem for Russia is “not that Ukraine has to shoot down an airliner,” said industry news site Live and Let’s Fly. “Quite the opposite.” Ukrainian drones merely need to “create enough uncertainty” for authorities to close airports or until “airlines or insurers decide the risk is no longer worthwhile.” The tactic is a “useful tool of war.” 

But trying to shutter an airport permanently “would be difficult,” said The Guardian. A “sustained attack would become predictable and easier for air-defense systems to halt.”

What are Russia’s options?
Russian President Vladimir Putin “vowed that Russia would keep pummeling” Ukraine, at a press conference last week where he “dismissed” Zelenskyy’s threat to Russian airspace, said The Washington Post. “One does not negotiate with terrorists,” said Putin.

Russia’s military is “focusing on striking manufacturing and storage sites around Kyiv and energy and port operations in Odessa,” said former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Stephen Bryen on Substack. While it’s “uncertain whether Zelenskyy’s warning will change the current pattern of attacks and retaliations,” it’s also “hard to see” how Ukraine can “keep launching hundreds of drones” nightly into Russia.

College sports were once a bastion of amateur athletics. Now, players get paid openly, going to teams that can offer them the biggest paycheck. The lines between college and professional sports have grown fuzzy, and some marginal pro players are even attempting to return to class to keep their careers alive. But a fierce backlash has ensued.

LSU: ‘Enraged every stakeholder’
It was once a settled fact that players who had “moved on to pro sports from college could not return to college,” said The Associated Press. Louisiana State University (LSU) is testing that notion, enrolling two athletes, Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who “spent time in NFL training camps this summer.”

A judge ruled the duo should be allowed to play under brand-new NCAA rules that allow a fifth year of college eligibility, and the league is appealing. The players are currently in limbo, said the AP. 

First-year LSU Coach Lane Kiffin (pictured above) has “enraged nearly every stakeholder in the sport” with his attempt to bring the pros back to college, said The Wall Street Journal. Athletes who “sign professional contracts” should not be “permitted to return to college competition,” said the Southeastern Conference in a statement, per the Journal.

Amateurism: ‘Fundamentally dishonest’
The LSU saga is highlighting “college sports’ identity crisis,” said Jason Lloyd at The Athletic. University athletes “weren’t paid, they weren’t represented by agents, they couldn’t profit from endorsements” until the last few years. Such amateurism was “fundamentally dishonest” given the billions of dollars generated by college sports. 

In a recent change, direct payments and endorsements are now allowed. But colleges refuse to call the newly paid athletes “employees,” said Lloyd. So the question that must be answered is: “What, exactly, is a college athlete in 2026?”

While the legal battle proceeds, LSU is playing without Wright and Harris and playing well. Kiffin’s football team led Clemson 31-3 at halftime of Saturday’s game. “Imagine if we had pro players,” said Kiffin at halftime to ESPN. 

The SEC is not amused. Today, the league scheduled a vote of its college presidents to decide “whether to expel the Tigers from the league,” said ESPN.

FSU students react during a stadium-wide power outage at an NCAA college football game against SMU in Tallahassee, Florida. Power went out at Doak Campbell Stadium minutes before the scheduled kickoff, and the delay lasted almost two hours.
Noah Lantor / AP Photo

Help realize your favorite coffee lover’s barista dreams with a gift that will elevate their at-home java game. Each one of these items can be used for making a cup of coffee in the morning or entertaining a crowd ready to get caffeinated.

Fellow Atmos electric vacuum coffee canister
Using fresh coffee beans is one of the “most important parts of making a good cup,” said Wired. Storing them in a vacuum-sealed canister keeps the beans at their peak, preserving the “delicate and rich flavors you get from fresh-roast coffee.” The electric version of Atmos’ coffee canister is easy to use — just push a button — and can also hold spices, nuts and loose-leaf tea. ($80, Amazon)

Lardera Wilfa Uniform grinder
This grinder’s 58 mm steel flat burrs ensure precision and uniformity, with 41 settings to choose from for cold brew, pour-over, drip, French press, AeroPress and espresso. The stylish grinder is easy to use and “sits discreetly” on a countertop “without getting in the way,” said The Verge. ($299, Lardera)

SugarBean Coffee Bean Brulée
Think crunchy, crackly and like nothing else. Coffee Bean Brulée is a candy made of Arabica coffee beans enveloped in caramelized sugar, which shatters when chewed or crumbled up as an ice cream topping or coffee garnish. There are three caffeine strengths to choose from — single, double and triple shot — and several different flavors, like cardamom, cacao nib and coconut. ($8.50, SugarBean)