Britain just gave Ukraine the blueprints to build Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
Top story
CIA Director John Ratcliffe flies to Moscow on US Air Force C-17. A US Air Force C-17 landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on August 25 carrying CIA Director John Ratcliffe for meetings with Russian officials. The flight originated from outside Washington, D.C. and stopped in Riga, Latvia before continuing to Moscow. Neither Washington nor Moscow has officially explained the purpose of the mission. Such flights have been extremely rare since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Why it matters: The first known CIA director visit to Moscow since the Ukraine war began signals a return to direct intelligence-channel diplomacy at a moment when both sides have repeatedly ruled out political negotiation. (Corroborated) The War Zone → · Daily Sabah → · UK Defence Journal → · Defence24 →
The rundown
MUNITIONS — Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced on Independence Day that Ukraine’s newest domestically developed ballistic missiles will enter combat within weeks. He framed homegrown missiles as Ukraine’s answer to a shortage of anti-ballistic interceptors from Western partners. Ukraine has been developing multiple indigenous missile programs throughout the war, including the Hrim-2 short-range ballistic missile. (Corroborated) Defense News →
NAVAL — Kongsberg launched the Aegir SSA family of subsea situational awareness sonars at ONS 2026 in Stavanger. The AI-enabled systems are designed for continuous underwater monitoring of ports, offshore assets and critical subsea infrastructure. Kongsberg positioned the product as a response to growing threats to undersea cables and energy installations in European waters. (Corroborated) Naval Technology → · Defence Industry Europe →
NAVAL — Russia’s Baltic Fleet has fitted several warships with improvised netting and irregular camouflage patterns as makeshift protection against drone strikes, according to footage from a recent fleet exercise. At least three vessels were equipped with different combinations of netting, deformation-pattern paint and other visual countermeasures on bridges, radar housings and other exposed areas. The measures mirror those deployed on Black Sea Fleet units. (Single source) Defence Blog →
By the numbers
4 events in this issue · 3/4 corroborated · 3/4 European · busiest beat: naval
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