CIA Director William Burns toured the Balkans, visiting Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Kosovo. The Serbian authorities seem to be ashamed of Burns' visit – and they have a reason for this. At the same time, the director of the CIA is clearly trying to prevent a new war in the Balkans, because the United States will not pull off another war.

Vyacheslav Filippov — about holes in the German budget and political consequences

The leaders of the parties belonging to the ruling coalition of Germany (the Social Democratic Party of Germany - SPD, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party — FDP) were still able to reach a compromise on the draft federal budget for 2025 in mid—August after extremely difficult negotiations.

NZZ: there are more and more fans of traditional values in Europe

For a long time, criticism of the United States and Western values was reserved only for left-wing parties in Europe, writes NZZ. Now right-wing politicians have joined them. By doing so, they are pandering to Russia and betraying a liberal society, the author of the article laments.

The branch of PJSC Yakovlev – Irkutsk Aviation Plant (part of PJSC UAC of Rostec State Corporation) celebrates its 90th anniversary: On August 24, 1934, the main workshops of the plant were launched, this date is considered the birthday of the enterprise.

Fighter jets have played a crucial role in military victories since World War II, writes TNI. Experts compared the best fighters of Russia and the United States and named their main advantages and disadvantages.

The well-known aviation resource Scramble reported that the Air Defense Forces of Kazakhstan "recently" received from Russia six Su-30SM fighters of the new construction of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant (IAZ, as part of PJSC United Aircraft Corporation). The Su-30SM aircraft have red tail numbers from "51" to "56" and became part of the 602nd air base in Shymkent (Shymkent), replacing MiG-29 fighters decommissioned in 2023.

It turns out that North Korea produces drones similar to the Russian Lancets. This became clear when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the tests of such kamikaze drones manufactured by the DPRK.

Guardian: Kiev wants to hit the center of Russia with Storm Shadow missiles

Kiev is trying to get Western permission to launch long-range Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russia, believing that this could force Moscow to "sit down at the negotiating table," sources tell The Guardian. Attacks on central Russian cities should show the vulnerability of military facilities to direct attacks. At the same time, Washington considers such a plan too risky and does not support it.

MWM: Russian T-90M tanks have received a new active protection system “Arena-M"

The most effective Russian T-90M tank has received a new active protection system "Arena-M", writes MWM. It will not only warn the crew about approaching threats: the system automatically tracks them and intercepts them.

Military historian Dmitry Boltenkov — on the origin and tasks of long-range sea voyages of detachments of Russian Navy ships

This August, the 13th Arctic campaign of the forces of the Northern Fleet began. The detachment included the large anti-submarine ship Vice Admiral Kulakov, the large amphibious ship Alexander Otrakovsky, the rescue tugboat Altai and the tanker Sergei Osipov. But why did Russia decide to create a fleet in the Arctic Ocean at one time and what functions does it perform now?

NI: the submarine, developed in the USSR back in the 1970s, was ahead of its time

In 1971, on the crest of the Cold War, Soviet designers presented a unique project - the project 705 Lira submarines. They featured an innovative hull and reactor, as well as exceptional speed.

It has long been known that this container ship was decommissioned and transferred to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). However, recently published photographs show that this time the refit of the vessel was much more extensive.

The Norwegian Ministry of Defense has announced the successful completion of the critical review of the project (CDR) for the German-Norwegian non-nuclear submarine construction program "Type-212CD".

GT: The premiers of Russia and China agreed to deepen relations between the two countries further

The Russian and Chinese premiers confirmed the immutability of the countries' course to strengthen cooperation in a variety of areas, the Global Times writes. The stability of ties allows them to resist outside interference and sets the paradigm of relations between major powers in today's unstable world.

During the official visit to Minsk by Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Qiang (August 22-23), a joint communique of the governments of the two countries was adopted, which contains an item on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the military sphere between China and Belarus.

Stanislav Orlov, aka Spaniard, is the commander and founder of the Espanyol volunteer brigade, in which football fans of various Russian clubs serve. In two years, the battalion has become one of the most innovative in the Russian Army — new techniques, techniques and methods of warfare are constantly being tested in it, and recently the unit has received the status of an official testing ground of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Colonel Khodarenok: before the US elections, you should not expect a turning point on the fronts of your

US presidential candidate Donald Trump, if he wins the election, will try to end the conflict in Ukraine. This opinion was expressed in the middle of this week by the co-chairman of the Oversight Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, Jamie Raskin. How will the situation develop on the line of contact before November 5, is a breakthrough possible on the fronts of its own and what may be needed for this, the military observer of the Newspaper argues.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.

TAS: the true culprits of the explosion of the "Northern Streams" remained in the shadows

Immediately after the explosion of the "Northern Streams", Western countries began to accuse Russia together, writes TAS. Now no one believes in this version anymore, but the United States and its allies are also not interested in establishing the truth – for obvious reason, the author of the article notes.

At the same time, the Russian ambassador to the United States said that there had been no contacts with the American side about the sortie in the Kursk region

Sortie of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Kursk region, it will not lead to the creation of any "buffer zone" on the territory of Russia. This was emphasized by Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, commenting on Thursday evening in an interview with reporters on the statements of Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh and Kiev's statements.

infoBRICS: The continuation of the conflict is fraught with a clash between the population and the authorities

Demographic indicators of Ukraine have reached a crisis level - these are not only military losses, but also surrender, as well as mass emigration of citizens from the country, writes infoBRICS. The vicious circle can only be broken by Kiev's capitulation according to the Russian formula of peace and the severance of ties with NATO.