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A mother of a Russian soldier speaking to RFE/RL has told the broadcaster the last time she heard from her son, a Russian soldier deployed to the front line, was when he was dispatched on a combat mission on 20 July 2025 – more than a year ago.

He had transmitted a photo to her that same day and had also messaged her that he had been wounded but not seriously when a drone exploded near his position.

Putin Back in 2018 Creative Commons Image

Putin in 2021 Creative Commons Photo

It was the last message of any kind she ever received from him.

Iran Says Oman Talks Won’t Open the Strait – Oman and Iran are negotiating over the Strait of Hormuz, but their talks will not achieve a proper reopening of the critical commercial waterway if the United States does not agree to Tehran’s requests, Iran said on Monday.

Partial Hormuz Opening In Sight 
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei noted that talks with Muscat were centered on commercial shipping routes. However, he stressed that this was a separate issue from the full reopening of the previously busy waterway.

The Houthi Attack: What Happens Now? While the war between Iran and the United States has remained cool over the last few days, the “Yemeni front” has continued to escalate as the Houthis continue to trade blows with the coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

Over the weekend, the Houthis carried out a strike against Saudi Aramco’s Jazan refinery, which processes more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

On Saturday, 8 August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that updated intelligence reports on Russia’s preparations for its next offensive indicate that as many as 50,000 soldiers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) could now be deployed in theatre.

“A decision has been made for 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of ​Russia”, he said.

North Korean ICBM. Image Credit: KCNA/North Korean State Media.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is considering a new program to develop a hypersonic missile demonstrator that would serve as the baseline of future weapons, according to a special notice.
The agency posted a request for information to Sam.gov on Aug. 7 seeking industry feedback on the new Next Generation Hypersonic Cruise Missile (NGHCM) effort — which aims to design, build and fly a fully integrated hypersonic weapons demonstrator.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that as many as 50,000 North Korean soldiers could be deployed to Russia to fight along with its ally against Ukraine.

Zelenskyy posted on X over the weekend that “a decision has been made for 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia,” a ‌higher figure than his earlier estimate of 30,000 in July. He did ⁠not get into specifics as to why that number has increased.

Iran’s Drones That Russia Is Using. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The war in Ukraine is heating up in ways not seen in years.

First, the Russians are clearly making decisive strides on the battlefront itself in Eastern Ukraine, as Russian troops are mere kilometers from the two remaining Ukrainian Fortress Cities.

Vladimir Putin in Dec of 2020 Creative Commons Image

Putin in Meeting In January 2023 Creative Commons Photo

Most experts assess that those Fortress Cities will fall.

Second, the Ukrainians began a desperate wave of sustained drone strikes deep inside Russia meant to disrupt the logistical chain supplying the Russian frontline forces.

After trying — and failing — to use massive military force to force the Islamic Republic of Iran to collapse (or at least be more compliant with Washington’s wishes) for the last nearly six months, President Donald Trump seems to have walked back from that course of action.

Since the war started, the US military has massively depleted its stockpiles of critical defensive and long-range precision-strike munitions.

A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II aircraft assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501 performs a flight demonstration over Washington, D.C.

The Navy and Marine Corps are curtailing when service members can file anonymous complaints alleging discrimination and harassment, a recent Navy-wide message says.
Both services will no longer process such anonymous reports as part of Military Equal Opportunity complaints, according to the message, which closely mirrors recent policy changes announced by the Army and the Department of the Air Force.
“This does not prevent a commander from taking appropriate action in response to an anonymous report,” the Department of the Navy-wide message says.

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.