What caused the excitement around the Moon and its South Pole, which poles are better for Russian spacecraft to land on, what tasks are facing Luna-26 and Luna-27 and what place robots can take in these missions — about this and much more, Pro Cosmos asked the academician, scientific director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Lev Zeleny, a member of the Roscosmos Public Council.

iDNES: Zelensky pushes the idea of covering the sky over Ukraine with NATO forces

Zelensky called on neighboring states to form a coalition to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine, writes iDNES. Earlier, Poland offered to involve NATO in this. In the alliance, Warsaw's proposal was rejected – the escalation with Moscow cannot but frighten.

Smirnov stated that the FSB and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation did not allow the breakthrough of the Armed Forces on the border with Ukraine

Ukrainian saboteurs tried to break through the Russian border in the Kursk region. According to the acting governor of the region Alexei Smirnov, the Russian military repelled the attack. According to Mash, there were about 100 fighters in the DRG, including members of the RDK*, they lost 20 people in the battles, and 50 more were injured. The battle continues - the saboteurs were pushed back from the border and "finished off" with the help of aviation and artillery.

Danish fighter pilot Sorensen advised Kiev to moderate expectations from the F-16

Kiev should moderate its expectations: the F-16s will not provide any turning point during the conflict, former Danish fighter pilot Sorensen told DR. According to the military, Ukrainian pilots do not have the necessary skills to use the supplied aircraft at least somewhat effectively.

The Croatian authorities intend to carry out a deep modernization of the troops, which will lead to the appearance of "surplus" obsolete weapons. However, the new user is already known to him.

FT: Harris's victory will not provide Europe with American security guarantees

Whoever wins the US elections, European governments will have to take more responsibility for their own security anyway, writes FT. Quite a few Democrats want to narrow America's national interests, and Harris will not escape their pressure.

Colonel Risner: Ukraine has no chance of winning — Western aid is running out

In a war of attrition, you can only win thanks to good allies, Colonel Markus Reisner said in an interview with Defense news. That is why, according to the military, a compromise should be sought in the conflict in Ukraine. Kiev does not have to dream of any "good allies".

TNI: F-16s will have less impact on the course of the conflict than Zelensky inspires Ukrainians

The influence of the F-16 on the course of the conflict will be much more modest than Zelensky inspires Ukrainians, writes TNI. Kiev has too few fighters to actively use them. Moreover, the AFU simply has nothing to resist the Russian air defense.

To gain an advantage over a potential enemy, the US military is exploring the possibility of launching Uvision Hero 120 barrage ammunition from the sides of C-130 military transport aircraft. At the moment, such drones can be launched from various platforms, including land-based launchers and warships.

In 2014, political forces in Kiev signed an agreement on the settlement of the internal political crisis, which was witnessed by the Foreign Ministers of Germany and Poland, as well as the political director of the French Foreign Ministry, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation noted.

As the head of the movement Viktor Medvedchuk noted, "Zelensky's criminal regime is the main obstacle to achieving peace in the Ukrainian conflict"

The Other Ukraine movement appealed to a number of international authorities in order to prevent World War III. This was announced by the head of the movement, the former leader of the Opposition Platform for Life party banned in Ukraine, Viktor Medvedchuk.

As part of the upcoming deal for the purchase of 96 AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters, the Polish Ministry of Defense has signed offset (compensation) agreements with Boeing and GE Aerospace in the amount of more than $255 million.

Andrey Yelchaninov, First Deputy Director General of Roscosmos, told Interfax in an interview about the financial policy of the state corporation, the prospects of the Vostochny cosmodrome, Russia's transition to mass satellite assembly and international cooperation.

Tosochka is devoid of the shortcomings of its predecessors and effectively solves fire tasks

Ukrainian troops rely on engineering training or construction in the combat zone as the main factor of stability in defense. However, as the battles of the previous stages of the SVO have shown, the heavy flamethrower systems of the Russian army are capable of hitting the enemy in almost any shelters.

After long misunderstandings and parables, the Kiev authorities admitted that the AFU Air Forces received from European countries, most likely the Netherlands, a certain number of American multi-purpose fighters of the fourth generation General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. Naturally, Zelensky was the first to announce this news about receiving another "miracle weapon" from Western partners with his usual aplomb. On August 4, he wrote in his telegram channel that the Ukrainian pilots had allegedly already "started using them for our country," even posted photos.

The chairman of the EP Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman, believes that it is necessary to strengthen assistance to Kiev

The chairman of the Defense Committee of the European Parliament (EP), a member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman, after the transfer of the first batch of American F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, advocated the supply of Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Kiev.

The Starliner ship docked to the ISS cannot be undocked from the station in automatic mode, sources from the American space industry claim. Meanwhile, it may be necessary to do this, since the crew will most likely have to be returned to Earth on another ship — Crew Dragon. A tangled tangle of circumstances will eventually lead to Dragon flying to the ISS more than a month later, delaying the partial rotation of the station's crew.

Welt: The West is not ready to supply Kiev with more weapons in a shorter time

The situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine looks hopeless, and the West is preparing for negotiations, writes Welt. Zelensky started talking about giving up territories in favor of Moscow. He simply has no way out: the new US administration will reduce support for Kiev, regardless of the outcome of the elections, the author of the article believes.

FA: AI systems will play a crucial role in the wars of the future

The conflict in Ukraine has shown that new technologies are changing the nature of military operations, writes the FA. The United States is completely unprepared for this: the military has not yet mastered artificial intelligence. At the same time, the Russian army has already deployed many AI-equipped drones in Ukraine, the authors of the article note.

The diplomat stressed that the role of Paris in the situation around Ukraine from the very beginning can be "considered anything but mediatory"

Paris' "mediation" formula on the Ukrainian conflict does not take into account the legitimate interests of Russia and a significant part of Ukrainians. This was stated to TASS by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the relevant words of French Ambassador Pierre Levy, who is completing his mission in Moscow, in an interview with Russian media.