Ukraine struck a Wildberries logistics hub in the Russian city of Kotovsk, about 310 miles southeast of Moscow in the Tambov region, early Wednesday, according to regional officials and multiple news outlets.

The strike killed at least three people across a broader wave of drone attacks that night and, according to Tambov Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov, “completely” destroyed the warehouse.

Putin Is Speaking Image from Russian Federation Government End of 2024

Putin in 2024 Image Credit: Russian Federation

It was the second time that the specific 1.

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“Unthreatening and respectful.” That is how the president of the United States described North Korea on Aug. 16, 2026, in his social media post ordering his secretary of defense to scale back joint exercises with South Korea. Two years earlier in Seoul, the U.S.-South Korean alliance agreed that South Korea’s role in an American nuclear operation would involve exercises and training, formalizing those guidelines at a Nuclear Consultative Group meeting co-chaired by Vipin Narang, then-acting assistant secretary of defense for space policy.

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Russia and China are rapidly developing capabilities that could challenge the long-standing American lead in space, with recent advances in satellite constellations and reusable rockets highlighting the accelerating competition. The Washington Post recently pointed to two developments in particular: Russia’s rapid deployment of its Rassvet low-Earth-orbit satellite network and China’s successful recovery of the first stage of its Zhuque-3 reusable rocket. Both developments address capabilities that have become central to America’s increasingly commercialised space architecture.

A senior Norwegian commander has warned that Western societies are fundamentally unprepared for a prolonged conflict on the scale and intensity of the war in Ukraine. Brigadier Atle Molde, who commands the Norway-led Task Force Legio responsible for training Ukrainian military personnel, recently warned: “We are not prepared. No Western country’s prepared.” He described avoiding a prolonged war of attrition as one of the most important lessons Norway and other Western countries should draw from Ukraine.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force has demonstrated the growing maturity of its Z-20K medium utility helicopter during the latest China-Belarus Swift Eagle 2026 joint training exercises, with footage released by the service showing the aircraft conducting troop rappelling operations, The exercises have highlighted the Z-20’s expanding role in air assault and counter-terrorism missions.

Iran looks to be reasserting control over the Strait of Hormuz, with Iranian forces turning around an oil tanker attempting to use the U.S.-backed southern shipping corridor on Wednesday – just as Washington signals that it has no immediate intention to resume military strikes against Iran.

The incident, which involved the HAANA, an Indian-managed tanker, comes only a day after Iran and Oman announced that they had made progress toward agreeing on a new temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.

A U.S.

Early on Wednesday, Ukraine struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries amid its ongoing campaign against the fuel infrastructure supporting its war on Kyiv.

According to Ukraine’s General Staff, its forces struck the Lukoil-owned NORSI refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, overnight on August 26, causing a huge fire.

The Romanian Army’s 74th Patriot Regiment conducted the country’s first PATRIOT missile system live-fire exercise at the Capu Midia test firing range in Romania Nov. 14-15, 2023.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed three classified decrees this week, just as CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a highly unusual trip to Moscow. Even after the U.S. official returned from Russia, the purpose of the trip remains a mystery.

Ratcliffe remained in Moscow for roughly eight hours, and the Kremlin confirmed that he met with Russian intelligence officials. U.S. President Donald Trump also acknowledged the visit but rejected some of the most dramatic theories about why he was there.

Putin Back in 2009. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Russian President Putin.

‎Following confirmation on August 23 that Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force J-16 fighters had engaged in medium- and close-range air combat training with Egyptian Rafale fighters as part of Eagles of Civilisation 2026 exercises, it was reported the following day that Chief of the French Armed Forces General Staff, arrived in Cairo at the head of a high-level military delegation.

Ukraine, in recent weeks, has been striking both warehouses belonging to Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries, as well as Russia’s oil infrastructure.

On Wednesday, it hit both.

Putin Back in 2023.

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister’s Information and Broadcasting Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman has stated that a government committee has prepared a draft agreement covering the acquisition of J-10C fighters and attack helicopters, with the proposal moving through government approval processes. The exact number of aircraft, contract value and delivery schedule have not yet been publicly confirmed, although previous reports have suggested a possible requirement for up to 24 aircraft.

The world’s first hypersonic glide vehicle capable of air-to-air engagements is reportedly currently under development in China, and is expected to extend China’s ability to attack high value support aircraft and bombers at unprecedented ranges and with a minimal warning time. This will build on the advantages provided by the PL-17 air-to-air missile, which is currently the longest ranged in the world, with hypersonic glide vehicles having significant advantages in terms of speed, flight performance, and efficiency.

A Marine injured by a suicide bomb outside Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport tended to other Marines and provided cover in the wake of the attack. Later that night, he sat in his room digging shrapnel out of his own hip. He had avoided medics and his own platoon sergeant at the scene of the explosion, afraid he’d be ordered to leave the scene if they saw the severity of his wound.
On Wednesday, Lance Cpl. Jordan Houston was one of three Marines who received awards for their actions at Abbey Gate following the attack outside of the Kabul airport five years ago. The attack killed 13 U.S.

Building to building. Room to room.

The Army on Wednesday announced the initial five installations that have been selected to host nuclear microreactors as part of the Janus program and named the companies that will build and operate them.
The chosen vendors and the respective bases where their reactors will be deployed include Antares Nuclear at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; BWXT Advanced Technologies at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems at Fort Hood, Texas; Radiant Industries at Fort Benning, Georgia; and Westinghouse Government Services at Fort Drum, New York.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not indicated that he’s anywhere close to giving up on his ambitions and war aims in Ukraine.

However, some observers have noticed that the way Putin has been talking about the war has changed over time.

Su-35 Fighter from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Su-35. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

According to Newsweek, in an analysis by David Averre, if one analyzes some of Putin’s recent speeches, “cracks begin to appear in the carefully curated narrative.

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Weeks after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said an Oman-Iran deal on the Strait of Hormuz was imminent, the two countries appear to be moving closer to confirming an agreement that would establish a new system for moving traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

But statements from Tehran on Wednesday, August 26, suggest that the waterway will remain restricted for some time, unless Washington agrees to its terms.

Belgian F-16s and a US C-130J Super Hercules fl

Six months of military strikes and threats have so far failed to force Iran to capitulate. A naval blockade hasn’t worked, either, and now the Trump administration is counting on a new economic pressure campaign to bring the Islamic regime into line and agree to end its nuclear program and open the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington is threatening virtually any country, company, individual or financial institution doing business with Iran – but there’s a problem.

Donald Trump. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Remembrances and condolences flooded in Tuesday after the death of country music legend Dolly Parton.
Parton, who died of cancer at the age of 80 in her home state of Tennessee, was so multidimensional that one label wasn’t nearly enough to define her. The 5-foot-tall dynamo was much more than a singer. Songwriter. Actor. Philanthropist. Successful theme-park developer. Author.
Another label applies as well: military supporter.

The war between the U.S. and Iran has been in something of a holding pattern for the last two months. The war hasn’t consisted of daily shooting or bombing since July, but there isn’t quite peace either, as the sides remain at a standoff, and no full-on peace talks are scheduled.

According to one shipping boss, it’s starting to look like the Russia-Ukraine war, in which the front lines haven’t moved much recently. While the analogy isn’t exact, some similarities remain.

B-1B Lancer. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

A U.S.

Veterans Minister Calvin Bailey joined teenager

A Pakistan Air Force Bayraktar TB2 drone. Turkey has become a key supplier of unmanned systems to Islamabad. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0
Multiple Turkish Air Force C-130 Hercules transport aircraft undertook repeated sorties between Turkey and Pakistan on August 19-21. They landed at two major Pakistan Air Force (PAF) bases – Nur Khan near Rawalpindi and Masroor in Karachi – on these dates, Indian intelligence sources told India Today.
“Frequency and pattern of flights taken by Turkish aircraft seemed unusual to us.

What’s the status of the talks between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz? The negotiations were reportedly nearing a deal two weeks ago, but no such agreement has been announced — and last week, President Donald Trump was threatening to bomb Oman, a U.S. ally, if it didn’t cooperate.

Now, Iran has reportedly made a new demand.

Littoral Combat Ship. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

According to the Associated Press, which cited comments from Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Iran is insisting on barring military vessels from traversing the Strait of Hormuz.

The Marine Corps plans to push more air defenses “down to the squad level” as part of a major retooling of how its ground units and infantry troops are trained and equipped for future conflicts.
On Wednesday, the Marines released Ground Combat Element 2040, a blueprint for transforming the land force component of the Marine Air Ground Task Force or MAGTF, the central formation that the Corps organizes around for a battle. A MAGTF moves and fights with its owns ground, aviation, and logistics units under a single commander.

In 2025, Rob Geist Pinfold wrote, “The March Massacres Show That Syria Urgently Needs Solutions, Not Sanctions,” in which he argued that sanctions relief was a major way the West could positively engage with the new Syrian government. A year later, after sanctions relief materialized and the United States removed Syria from its list of terrorism sponsors, we asked him to revisit his arguments and reassess President Ahmed al Sharaa’s leadership, both foreign and domestic.

Find out how submarine chaplains pull their wei

The Marine Corps just released its plan to fight against adversaries on land, and Ryan had the two architects of the plan, Ground Combat Element 2040, on the show to talk about it. They discuss drones, resilience, long-range fires, logistics, and what marines will need to survive and fight on an increasingly transparent battlefield while still preserving the critical human element.Image: Khalil Brown via DVIDS
The post The Marine Corps’ Plan for the Future of Ground Combat appeared first on War on the Rocks.

Iran’s currency has reached a record low, and long lines have formed at gasoline stations in Tehran as Washington tries to up the economic pressure on the Islamic Republic six months into the war.

The Iranian rial plummeted to below 2 million to the U.S. dollar on the free market Wednesday.

The Abraham Lincoln and John C. Stennis carrier strike groups conduct carrier strike force operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet. Together, the strike groups will complete high-end warfighting training, enhancing interoperability with key allies and partners in the European theater. (U.S.

Photo: U.S. Army / Sgt. Samantha Cate (Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Five years ago today, 13 American service members were killed at Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan. Now, the investigation into what really happened — and who tried to bury the truth — may finally be blowing open.
Sean Parnell, Chairman of the Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel and Senior Advisor to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, dropped a bombshell on the fifth anniversary of the August 26, 2021 attack.

The Navy is planning to take dozens of Army pilots who were cut in a massive reduction of the land service’s aviation corps. 
But of the hundreds of Army pilots that officials estimate might be looking for a spot, the Navy is likely to only have slots for, at most, about a quarter of them.
A Navy spokesperson told Task & Purpose that the service is looking to take around 75 Army pilots who have completed initial flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

The latest intake of Gurkhas have been going th

Kyiv says that Russia has lost 1.5 million personnel since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On Wednesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Moscow’s cumulative personnel losses now stood at 1,480,750, including a further 1,450 casualties over the last 24 hours.

Tu-95 Bear Bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Tu-95 Bomber Russian Air Force. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that his country, along with the US and its European partners, has drafted a new framework for a possible end to the war with Russia.

However willing these parties are to participate in a solution that ends the conflict, it is the Russian set of demands that could still kill the entire proposed agreement.

FP-5 Missile From Ukraine Creative Commons Image

Neptune Missile from Ukraine Creative Commons Image

The plan calls for a series of steps, beginning with a ceasefire.

The filmmakers behind “Ghost Soldier” know exactly what kind of movie they’ve made—and they clearly had fun doing it. 
The trailer reads like a well-executed parody of the expert-brought-back-from-retirement archetype, but instead of feeling trope-y, it feels like an invitation to enjoy the fireworks.

Ukraine spent years lobbying for Western tanks and ultimately succeeded in obtaining them, but with the proliferation of cheap attack drones, many of those tanks are now sitting largely unused behind the front lines.

The dynamics of war have changed in just the last handful of years, largely driven by Ukraine’s burgeoning drone industry and asymmetric tactics that have allowed its military to face down a much greater power.

M1E3 Abrams. National Security Journal Photo.

India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the transfer of technologies (ToT) for all conventional missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to Indian defence firms for domestic production.

American farmers are on track for another potentially disastrous year, and Congress is considering spending $12 billion to help them weather the storm.

But the scale of the projected agricultural losses suggests that even an enormous bailout may provide only temporary relief.

President Donald J. Trump signs Executive Orders in the Oval Office, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

President Donald J. Trump meets with his cabinet at Camp David, Maryland on Friday, July 31, 2026.

Defence and aerospace company Ursa Major has agreed to become a publicly traded company through a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. III. (Bleichroeder).

Mara has raised a $7m pre-seed round to build Spike, a C-UAS system that uses stationary targeting sensors alongside small interceptors.

Six months of war with Iran have demonstrated perhaps why other leaders before U.S. President Donald Trump were so hesitant to get tough with the Islamic regime, with the world having witnessed the largest oil supply disruption on record.

Yet the global energy system has so far avoided the kind of total breakdown analysts initially predicted.

Donald Trump Back in 2016. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

But that resilience is getting harder to maintain, and may not last much longer.

Digital forensics firm Cellebrite unveiled a new portable field kit that can fit in a backpack and is purpose-built for military and intelligence officials who aim to mine data directly from mobile phones, SIM cards, drones, tablets and other devices in real time, at the point of capture.
The company billed the launch of its new Cellebrite Tactical Extraction Kit (C-TEK) on Wednesday as “the first public step” in a broader push to reach defense and intel customers worldwide.

The Band of the Coldstream Guards honoured Amer

Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum, only for War on the Rocks members. Each Monday, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their country.American coverage often narrows the view to the battlefield — these pieces widen it, revealing the texture of daily life, politics, and public argument in a nation at war.

Jimmie Sutton always wanted to become an engineer, specifically a naval engineer.
Sutton received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, but he left in 1904. His next stop was the Marine Corps School of Application, a precursor to Officer Candidates School and The Basic School. Sutton became a second lieutenant, which was his rank on the early morning of October 13, 1907—the night he died on the academy’s grounds after brawling with other aspiring officers.

For nearly six months now, U.S. President Donald Trump has been trying to force Iran to capitulate through sheer military power – but now, with Tehran refusing Washington’s terms and threatening to prevent any oil from leaving the Persian Gulf, the White House is betting that economic pressure can achieve what thousands of strikes so far have not.

Washington this week announced its plans to make the economic cost of continuing the war unbearable for Tehran while also threatening countries that keep the Iranian economy alive.

U.S.

On Monday, as part of the commemoration of Ukraine’s Independence Day, new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham appeared with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in what marked the first foreign visit of Burnham’s premiership.

“This is the moment to keep up the pressure on Russia, the moment to squeeze their ability to fund this illegal war,” Burnham said in remarks on Monday. “Ukraine has been Europe’s protector — not a drain on our security, but the front line in keeping Europe safe.