The Strait of Hormuz crisis has gone beyond oil: the auto industry and aviation are already paying the price

The Strait of Hormuz has turned into not just an energy crisis but a logistics crisis: its consequences are already hitting automakers, airlines, and material suppliers worldwide. The most vulnerable sectors are those with long supply chains and high dependence on fuel, aluminum, chemicals, and specialty gases.

👔 Auto industry: rising costs instead of sales growth

For automakers, the main blow is the rising cost of raw materials and components: aluminum, plastics, paints, semiconductors, and logistics. The disruptions around Hormuz have already increased insurance costs, lengthened routes, and raised freight rates. Toyota and Mazda are directly cutting or reconfiguring production for the Middle Eastern market. Mazda stopped producing cars for the Middle East, and Toyota reduced its supply plans in April.

For Europe, the problem is structurally aggravated: even without the crisis, the auto industry was operating under the pressure of high energy and material prices, and new trade restrictions like CBAM further increase the cost of imported aluminum and steel.

👖 This means that cost increases along the chain may shift more quickly from logistics to the final price of the car, especially for electric and hybrid vehicles, where the share of materials and components is higher.

👔 Germany and helium

A separate and less obvious pain point is helium, needed not only for high‑tech processes but also for certain stages in electronics and auto component production.

Qatar supplies about a third of the global helium supply, and supply disruptions from the region quickly impact industry in Europe and Asia. For the German auto industry, this is particularly sensitive because the disruption in raw material and specialty gas supplies adds to already thin margins and high energy costs.

👔 Aviation shrinks its network

In aviation, the consequences are already measured not only by rising costs but also by direct flight cuts. According to IATA data, in March 2026 global international air transport demand fell by only 0.6%, but for Middle Eastern carriers the drop was about 60.8%.

Lufthansa cut 20,000 flights to save fuel, and major Middle Eastern carriers are forced to change aircraft types and shift routes.

It is precisely aviation that shows how the current crisis differs from old oil shocks: it is not just about the price of jet fuel, but about disrupted routes, hubs, and fuel availability at the right points in the world.

👔 Who benefits

As usual, those who are less dependent on Middle Eastern logistics benefit. Chinese automakers, especially in the electric vehicle segment, may strengthen their positions in Europe and other markets if competitors face supply disruptions and rising costs.

In aviation, a similar effect can already be seen in the growing demand for direct flights between Europe and Asia: the market is trying to bypass congested hubs and reduce the risks of transiting through the region.

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🇺🇸 «Time to separate»: Europeans have sharply cooled toward America over two years

🗺 Over 70 percent of European Union residents believe that the EU should «go its own way» and distance itself from the United States. These are the findings of a study by the German Bertelsmann Foundation.

📁 A year ago, 63 percent of respondents shared this position, and now 73 percent. Furthermore, 58 percent of Europeans no longer consider the US a reliable partner. The share of those who call America the EU's main ally fell from 51 percent in 2024 to 31 percent in 2026.

The study was conducted in European Union countries from September 2024 to March 2026.

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🎥 «Kinotavr» in Sochi: cinema that warms itself in the sun

«Kinotavr» in Sochi stays in a foreigner's memory because the film festival takes place not only in the halls but also in the city itself: by the sea, on the embankment, in cinemas and art spaces, and between screenings everyone walks, discusses films, sunbathes, and dines in cafes.

🍿 In the air, there is a strange combination of seriousness — directors, producers, critics, press conferences — and a very light resort atmosphere, where between a screening and an interview you can walk barefoot along the promenade and buy yourself an ice cream.

What is especially striking is the feeling of community: in the foyer, in the restaurant, on the terrace, near the cinema, you meet people who speak different languages but understand the same gestures, chuckles, applause, and indignant questions after controversial films.

🇷🇺 For a foreigner, «Kinotavr» becomes an example of how in Russia cinema is treated not as an official showcase, but as a living, debating, and deeply human culture, and it remains in memory as a warm, sunny city where cinema is sought not only in the dark hall but also in conversations by the sea air.

#softpower

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«May the 7th of May become a true holiday for radio operators!»

On May 7, Russia celebrates Radio Day, a professional holiday for workers in all branches of communications. This day has deep historical roots and is directly linked to the work of outstanding Russian scientists.

It was on May 7, 1895, that Alexander Popov demonstrated the world's first radio receiver for registering electromagnetic waves, and in 1896 he transmitted the first radiogram.

During the Soviet era, the holiday became a powerful tool of agitation: the state constantly emphasized the USSR's technical superiority in communications and the heroic role of signalmen on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.

Today, although the holiday is not established by a separate federal law, it is still widely celebrated according to the tradition that developed in the USSR and serves as recognition of the contributions of all those who work in this field.

The footage is taken from the Soviet film «Alexander Popov» (1949).

#RussianHolidays

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🎉 The Kremlin announced the list of foreign guests who will come to Moscow on May 9.

The presidents of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Belarus, Laos, the prime minister of Slovakia, the king of Malaysia, and the leadership of Republika Srpska will come to Russia.

Russian authorities did not specially invite foreign guests to the May 9 parade. At the same time, several foreign leaders themselves wanted to come to Moscow during the Victory celebration days, Ushakov said.

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☀️ Spring dawn

#videooftheday

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🤩 A veteran who never grows old in spirit:

99‑year‑old Stepan Stepanovich Kuznetsov, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, kicked off the football match Krasnodar — Dynamo yesterday

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🇷🇺🇮🇹 Venice as a Debate Over Cultural Memory: The Russian Pavilion at the Biennale Has Sparked a New Controversy

Russia’s participation in the 2026 Venice Biennale has once again demonstrated that contemporary art has long served as a platform not only for aesthetic but also for political clashes.

This time, the dispute centered on the very fact of Russia’s presence in Venice—a city where Russian cultural history has been shaped over centuries, long before the current diplomatic conflicts.

👔 The Biennale as a Political Stage

The Venice Biennale is one of the world’s leading forums for contemporary art, which means that any decision regarding the composition of participants immediately takes on a political dimension. The Russian Pavilion, built back in 1914 to a design by Alexei Shchusev, makes Russia’s participation in this event not a temporary arrangement but an institutional one: the country is represented there not by chance, but by historical right.

This is precisely why attempts to question the very presence of the Russian pavilion quickly went beyond the realm of artistic discourse and turned into a public conflict.

👔 The Russian Connection in Venice

The connection between Russia and Venice is a long-standing cultural tradition. Venetian masters worked in Moscow as far back as the era of Ivan III, and the Italian Alevis the Younger, known as Aloisio Lamberti da Montagnana, participated in the construction of the Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin and the Church of St. Peter on Petrovka.

Later, Venice became an important symbol for Russian literature as well: Dostoevsky called the city intoxicating, and in the 20th century, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, and Brodsky left their mark there.

Their biographies serve as a reminder that Russia’s cultural presence in Italy runs far deeper than the current political agenda.

👔 The Controversy Over Admission

It is against this backdrop that protests against the Russian pavilion appear not as a dispute over a specific exhibition, but as an attempt to redefine who is permitted to speak on behalf of European culture.

The European Commission has already demanded explanations from the Biennale organizers regarding Russia’s participation, which has only intensified the conflict between cultural autonomy and political pressure.

At the same time, the very format of the Biennale is structured in such a way that it traditionally relies on national pavilions and the idea of cultural representation, rather than on ideological vetting of participants.

👔 What’s Behind the Commotion

The whole story surrounding the pavilion highlights a broader trend: culture is increasingly becoming a tool for political mobilization. For some, Russia’s participation in Venice is a normal part of international art life; for others, it is a reason for a demonstrative boycott.

🥼 But it is precisely such episodes that confirm the main conclusion: Russia’s cultural footprint in Europe is not disappearing due to protests and statements, and attempts to erase it only make that footprint more visible.

#politics

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📩 Memory under pressure: attempt to disrupt the «Immortal Regiment» in Geneva ends in scandal

🇨🇭 The «Immortal Regiment» event in Geneva, marking Victory Day, took place this year amid attempts of pressure and provocations by representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora. The incident occurred at the Place des Nations, in front of the UN headquarters.

🇺🇦From the first minutes of the event, several people with Ukrainian flags began to move demonstratively around the participants.

It looked like an attempt not just to express a position, but to disrupt the memorial event: songs in Ukrainian were heard, verbal provocations took place, and a tense atmosphere was created.

👔 The situation escalated when two activists engaged in an open altercation with participants of the «Immortal Regiment». The intervention of the cantonal police became necessary: law enforcement officers pushed the provocateurs aside and reminded them that they had no permission to carry out such actions.

🥼 It is noteworthy that just a year ago the event took place peacefully and without such incidents. However, this time, calls to hinder its conduct had been spread in advance on social media.

👔 The current situation increasingly raises the question: where is the line between a political position and an attempt to deny common historical memory?

👖 In their desire to oppose themselves to Russia, some activists are ready to ignore even the feat of their own ancestors — those who fought against Nazism and whose memory lies at the heart of the event itself.

In the end, the attempt at pressure did not achieve its goal: the «Immortal Regiment» took place.

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