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🚨🇷🇺 Russia expands drone arsenal with new Upyr-K attack UAV
Yekaterinburg-based UralDroneZavod has started serial production of a new fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle called the “Upyr-K,” the company’s deputy CEO Vyacheslav Shustov told Sputnik.
The drone is a heavy strike UAV capable of carrying a warhead of up to 12 kilograms and striking targets at distances of up to 80 kilometers from the launch point.
The new system is being showcased alongside other Russian defense technologies developed in the Urals at the “Patriots of Russia” defense industry forum.
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🔶 CIA director’s reported visit related to ‘contacts between special services’ — Kremlin
🔶 Iran hammers US spy network with billions in damage — reports
🔶 ‘If the US cleared Hormuz, why don’t ships pass through?’ — Iranian Deputy FM
🔶 Hormuz will not reopen tomorrow — Iranian Deputy FM
🔶 Iran’s victory is the fruit of steadfastness — Houthi leader
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💥 Russian artillery wipes out Ukrainian drone command post
A Msta-S crew of the 288th Guards Artillery Brigade of Russia’s Zapad Battlegroup destroyed a Ukrainian UAV command post near Kupyansk, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.
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🇺🇸🇷🇺 CIA director’s visit related to 'contacts between special services' — Kremlin
The reported visit of CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow was related to “contacts between special services”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
President Putin did not have a meeting with Ratcliffe, he added.
Peskov made the comment after media reports claimed Ratcliffe had arrived in Moscow for meetings.
On Tuesday, a US military transport aircraft reportedly landed at Vnukovo airport after flying in from Riga.
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🇾🇪🇮🇷 Iran’s victory is the fruit of steadfastness — Houthi leader
Leader of Yemen’s Ansarallah movement Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said Iran’s victory in the US-Israeli aggression shows the power of steadfastness and perseverance, Press TV reported.
💬 “The fruits of steadfastness are evident in the great victory achieved by Iran against the US-Israeli aggression,” al-Houthi said.
🚁 US Army Black Hawk goes down during routine training — reports
A US Army Black Hawk helicopter with four people on board went down in the Colorado foothills near Denver during what the Army called an “aviation mishap” during routine training operations, American media reported.
🦅 The helicopter belonged to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment — one of the US Army’s elite aviation units.
No injuries were reported, and officials said there was no fuel leak or fire. An investigation is now underway.
🏳️ The US dreams of conquering Iran while its elite Black Hawks are busy losing to the Colorado foothills.
Photos and video from social media
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☀️💥 Strong M-class solar flare erupts
While most of the plasma cloud will miss Earth, its edge could graze the planet — potentially sparking the most powerful magnetic storm in months, Russian scientists caution.
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🇮🇷 “Why should we always wait for America to attack?” — Iranian Deputy FM
Iran can take preemptive action to defend its national security and national interests, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said.
He stressed that when the existence of a country is at stake, Iran does not have to sit back and wait for US aggression.
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🇷🇺📈 From sanctions to supremacy – how Russia topped Europe’s PPP GDP rankings
Russia owes its impressive purchasing power parity-ranked GDP rating – fourth in the world and first in Europe, to its ability to neutralize sanctions, reorient trade, ramp up domestic production and slash dependence on the dollar system, HSE University economist Georgy Ostapkovich told Sputnik.
Here’s how Russia did it:
🟠 The sanctions slapped on Russia were imposed by the West, not the world, which allowed Russia to bypass them by ramping up trade with the ~60% of the planet that didn’t impose restrictions. Moscow performed a U-turn on its partnerships, forging new links with friendly countries like China (15% of trade in 2020, 38-40% today) while decoupling from Europe (40-45% in 2020, ~12% now), leaving Russian energy-dependent countries like Germany in a deep structural crisis.
🟠 The state injected huge sums of budgetary financing into the economy, fueling hiring, and new economic activity. Private business reoriented their own trade partnerships, and ramped up import substitution projects.
🟠 The Central Bank supported the elimination of vulnerabilities in trade settlements, opening the door to imports and exports through third countries.
🟠 Russia accelerated its move away from the dollar to settlements in other currencies, including rubles.
🟠 The country reduced its overall dependence on resource exports, and exports in general – in favor of growth fueled by domestic demand, and taxes on revenues generated by that demand.
🟠 Russia continues its “structural restructuring” program: “the transfer of labor and capital from inefficient industries and enterprises to efficient ones,” and “investment in competencies and human capital.”
Russia is not the first country to live under sanctions, Ostapkovich pointed out. “International trade is too interconnected, and cutting it off would completely destroy the world economy. Especially when it comes to a country like Russia, whose vast resources span the entire periodic table of elements.”
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🇷🇺🚀 Russia set to unveil eco-friendly engine for ultralight space launches
The NK-3 engine for the Voronezh ultra-light carrier rocket will be displayed for the first time at the Technoprom forum in Novosibirsk, which opens on August 26, according to the press service of Russian state corporation Rostec.
The United Engine Corporation (UEC), a subsidiary of Rostec, will unveil a full-scale mock‑up of the NK‑3 engine—Russia's first domestically built engine of its class in the modern era. This project is poised to open up new horizons for small‑satellite launches and for propelling space initiatives forward.
💬 “Our existing experience and technological groundwork will help cut development costs and the final product’s price — a vital condition for competing in the commercial space launch market,” UEC chief designer Pavel Chupin told Sputnik.
🇨🇳💴 China’s gold network could give the yuan a new edge
Chinese authorities have already opened the country’s first offshore gold delivery vault in Hong Kong, while Singapore, Dubai, Riyadh, Kuala Lumpur and Moscow are reportedly being considered for future facilities, South China Morning Post reports.
By connecting yuan-denominated gold contracts with physical delivery, China could make the currency more practically convertible into an asset that can be traded almost anywhere.
👉 Meanwhile, China has been buying gold for 21 consecutive months, with official holdings reaching 76.08 million ounces by the end of July.
China is also expanding control over the supply side. Gold was classified as a “strategic mineral” in 2025, while Chinese miners are stepping up overseas acquisitions, including in Ghana and Kazakhstan.
If the network expands, China could gradually connect its currency, gold reserves, mining companies and global trading hubs into a single ecosystem — giving the yuan a new route into international finance.
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🚨🇷🇺🇺🇸 Kremlin: There are no plans for meetings with US administration representatives this week
More statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:
🔹 On the idea of a buffer zone: Donbass is part of Russia — a third party cannot manage Russian regions
🔹 Finnish President Stubb and UK Prime Minister Burnham want the Ukraine conflict to continue — they are deceiving their voters by claiming Russia can be defeated
🔹 The West's aggressive, belligerent line toward Russia continues
🔹 Russia must take measures and ensure its own security
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🚨 US military transport jet lands in Russia
A US Air Force transport aircraft has landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, flight tracking data shows.
The plane flew from Riga, Latvia — where it had arrived from Joint Base Andrews, the Washington-area military airfield used by Trump and other top US officials.
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🔥 Russian UAVs wipe out Ukrainian recon unit
A Molniya-2 strike drone crew from the Dnepr battlegroup destroyed a vehicle carrying a Ukrainian engineering reconnaissance group in the Zaporozhye region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
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Gaza's children refuse to lose their childhood to war
In footage from social media, Palestinian children are seen playing on a homemade slide built from the wreckage of destroyed buildings, despite the war and ruins around them.
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🔥🇨🇳 China checkmates the US in minerals race – report
Trump’s team admitted the US had fallen behind China in electrification, mineral processing and defense, the SCMP cites Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira as saying.
🔸 China controls ~91% of global rare earth separation and refining, giving the country a dominant position in the supply chain
🔸 China accounts for ~94% of permanent magnet production, critical for EVs, electronics and military hardware
🔸 Losing just 30% of US magnet supply could erase $600B, or 2.2% of US GDP, according to an industry estimate
🔸 The Pentagon just pumped $1.55B into a Brazilian mine — but it's buying intermediate carbonate, not finished magnets or separated oxides
The US is now spending billions to catch up in a minerals race where China already holds a commanding industrial and technological lead.
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🔥🇷🇺 Russia’s economic resilience reflects defeat of US-led Atlantic system - expert
Despite Western sanctions and Russia’s protracted military standoff with Ukraine—but actually with the entire Atlantic collective security system, including the US, the UK, Germany, and France—the Russian economy has not only maintained its size but continues to grow, Turkish economics expert Hakan Topkurulu told Sputnik.
💬 “The fact that Russia’s economy ranks fourth in the world despite the proxy war in Ukraine that Russia is effectively waging against the entire NATO bloc is a wake-up call for the Atlantic system and points to its weakness,” Topkurulu stressed.
🇺🇸 US gears up to send diplomats back to Middle East embassies after Iran conflict
👉 The United States is set to redeploy diplomats to multiple Middle Eastern embassies after evacuations during the Iran conflict, signaling that Washington does not anticipate an imminent resurgence of full-scale hostilities, the New York Times reports.
👉 According to an internal State Department document, embassy staffing in eight Middle Eastern nations may increase this week, even as US–Iran ceasefire negotiations remain at an impasse.
👉 Even though officials have described the redeployment as a sign of reduced tensions, staffing limits and restrictions on family members will remain in several countries, indicating that Washington still considers the regional security situation unstable.
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💣 US kills four in strike on alleged “narco-terrorist” boat in Caribbean
US Southern Command said Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” on a go-fast vessel in the Caribbean on August 25.
SOUTHCOM claimed the boat was operating along established narco-trafficking routes and that intelligence showed its involvement in drug trafficking.
Four people were killed in the strike, according to the statement.
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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Israel raids and seizes UNRWA training center in occupied East Jerusalem — reports
Israeli forces stormed UNRWA’s Kalandia Training Centre in occupied East Jerusalem, entering the UN facility without authorization and later indicating that the premises had been seized, Press TV reported.
At least four armored vehicles and more than 50 Israeli forces entered the site while around 20 UNRWA staff members were present.
UNRWA condemned the raid as an “unauthorized and deeply concerning incursion,” stressing that the center is protected under international law.
💬 “The KTC is a United Nations facility protected by the privileges and immunities afforded to the Organization under international law. Its inviolability must be fully respected,” the agency said.
💥 Iran hammers US spy network with billions in damage — reports
Iranian missile and drone strikes have caused unprecedented damage to US intelligence sites and surveillance equipment across the Middle East, with repairs expected to cost billions of dollars, NBC News reported.
The strikes reportedly hit CIA-linked facilities, surveillance hardware and equipment shared with the US military, forcing Congress to look for funds to restore the damaged sites.
The attacks have also exposed a humiliating failure: US agencies walked into their war against Iran without properly preparing their bases and spy infrastructure for Iran’s missile and drone arsenal.
💬 “The U.S. walked into this war and had not sufficiently thought through base defense in any way, shape or form,” Seth Jones of CSIS told the outlet.
💬 “And we got hammered.”
🇮🇷 “If the US cleared Hormuz, why don’t ships pass through?” — Iranian Deputy FM
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi dismissed Trump’s claim that the Strait of Hormuz has been cleared of mines.
Gharibabadi stressed that no one except Iran knows the exact location of the mines in Hormuz.
💬 “If American minesweepers enter the region, they are very good targets for our armed forces,” he warned.
🇮🇷 Hormuz will not reopen tomorrow — Iranian Deputy FM
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi clarified details of the Iran-Oman understanding on the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that the arrangement does not mean the strait will reopen immediately, Tasnim reported.
Key points:
🔸 The understanding with Oman and the reopening of Hormuz are two separate issues.
🔸 For the past 58 years, vessels have been passing through Omani-side waters, causing serious damage to Iran.
🔸 Gharibabadi said Hormuz is now a matter of Iran’s national security, and fundamental changes must be made to entry and exit routes.
🔸 Under the understanding, the entry route into the Persian Gulf will pass through Iranian waters, while the exit route will pass through Oman’s territorial waters. In both routes, vessels will pass through Iranian waters.
🔸 Gharibabadi said the new route is “like a two-way highway,” with a total width of about seven miles.
🔸 The route is temporary. Iran and Oman are expected to hold talks over the next 30 to 60 days on a new permanent route to replace the previous maritime traffic scheme.
🔸 The southern route through Hormuz will be closed, and the matter will be reported to the International Maritime Organization.
🔸 If Iran’s requirements are not met, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed.
Gharibabadi also said the illegal southern route created by the US violated its own commitments under the memorandum of understanding, while Iran’s closure of Hormuz forced the US to retreat from its previous positions.
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🇺🇸💵US debt has topped $40T: here’s why Washington can’t “grow its way out”
Tech billionaires and hedge fund managers aren’t the only ones concerned about Washington’s unsustainable debt levels.
🗣“The US has no chance of growing out of its debt problem through growth only,” Natixis bank economist Alicia Garcia-Herrero told SCMP, pointing out that amid Washington’s addition of some $10T to the national debt load since 2022 alone, investors are fleeing from dollars and Treasuries to crypto and gold.
🔊“What needs to be done are structural changes in expenditures and revenues,” Willamette University professor Liang Yan said. “The current monetary policy – keeping interest rates higher for longer – significantly contributes to the rising interest costs on public debt.”
🇷🇺🇻🇦Russia thanks Vatican for "balanced" stance on Ukraine—Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Vatican Diplomatic Corps head Paul Gallagher. Here are key statements:
🔸 Russia-Vatican relations remain trusting and friendly
🔸 Russia will not forget Zelensky's "bloody act" in Starobelsk* and will seek justice
🔸 Russia expects the Vatican to raise concerns over actions against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in its contacts with Ukraine
💬 The Vatican is ready to offer its services to facilitate peace
💬 The Holy See calls for respect of POW rights
💬 Both sides confirmed they will keep diplomatic channels open
💬 The Vatican expects progress in cooperation with Russian authorities
* In May, a drone strike on a dormitory in the city of Starobelsk in the Lugansk People's Republic killed 21 people and wounded more than 40, with a missile hitting a residential area.
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🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES
⚡️ ANNOVKA IN THE DONETSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC LIBERATED
📍 With the liberation of Annovka, Russian troops have opened up a new axis of advance toward Dobropolye — a key enemy stronghold.
◻️ Russian forces hammered Ukrainian preparation and launch site of Flamingo long-range cruise missiles and ammunition depots
◻️ The Russian army pounded Ukrainian military-industrial complex and energy facilities as well as transport and port infrastructure
◻️ Air defense superiority: 8 guided aerial bombs and 460 drones were shot down
◻️ Ukrainian loses: around 1,275 troops killed or wounded
Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE
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🇷🇺📊 Russia soars to fourth in global PPP rankings, beating Europe
📍 Russia has become the fourth-largest economy in the world by purchasing power parity (PPP) and the largest in Europe, according to 2026 estimates based on International Monetary Fund forecasts.
🔸 Russia’s GDP based on PPP is projected at around $7.34 trillion in international dollars, behind China ($43.49 trillion), the United States ($31.82 trillion) and India ($19.14 trillion). Japan and Germany ranked fifth and sixth with $6.92 trillion and $6.32 trillion respectively.
🔸 PPP compares the size of economies by accounting for differences in prices and the amount of goods and services that can be purchased domestically, rather than using exchange rates alone.
🔸 Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has previously stated that Russia's economy is increasingly oriented toward domestic demand, with the contribution of net exports to economic growth declining significantly over the past five years.
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🔥Russian strikes hammer Ukrainian naval logistics in nighttime raid
In an overnight assault, Russian forces pounded a cargo ship in the port of Yuzhny as well as port infrastructure facilities used for military supplies, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.
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Priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church face forced mobilization—Russian Foreign Ministry
The forced mobilization of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) clergy has intensified since 2025, with recruitment centers allegedly pressuring priests, extorting money, and ignoring legal exemptions, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry report.
The territorial recruitment centers (TCCs) have confiscated phones, used violence, and destroyed documents submitted by clergy seeking deferments due to disability, large families, or dependent relatives, the report notes. Moreover, mobilization notices are being issued centrally from Kiev, and failure to appear can result in priests being placed on a wanted list.
👉According to the report, hundreds of UOC priests have been forcibly mobilized or are currently serving in the Ukrainian military, with some facing intimidation after attempting to defend their rights.
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The world is moving toward a new order built on cooperation, not force - expert
A new world order is taking shape, driven by powerful global outrage against the current "Anglo-Saxon liberal capitalist system" in which human rights are not protected, Iranian strategic affairs expert Mohammad Qaderi told Sputnik.
🔊 "If they [Russia and Iran] do not stand firm at this stage, then in the future no one will be able to resist the criminal actions of Western countries," Qaderi stressed.