August 28, 1853, marks the birth of Vladimir Shukhov, a pioneering Russian engineer and architect whose innovations left an indelible mark on modern engineering.

Shukhov was instrumental in advancing both civil and structural engineering. He designed Russia’s first oil pipeline and developed the world’s first industrial plant for oil cracking.

Shukhov’s contributions to structural engineering were groundbreaking, particularly his development of cable-supported roofs and gridshell structures. His hyperboloid designs revolutionized industrial architecture and continue to influence the field today.

Shukhov's versatility spanned multiple domains, showcasing his remarkable impact on engineering practices. But perhaps his brightest masterpiece and the most obvious example of his genius is the iconic Shukhov Tower (pictured above).

Constructed in Moscow between 1920 and 1922, the Shukhov Tower stands as a testament to engineering artistry. Originally built as a radio transmission tower, this 160-meter structure features a hyperboloid design—a lattice of steel beams forming elegant curves that provide exceptional stability while embodying a harmonious blend of form and function.
The Shukhov Tower is not just an engineering marvel; it's a beacon of architectural innovation. Its airy lattice structure defies convention, exuding lightness and sophistication that captivates all who see it. Shukhov's pioneering use of minimal materials for maximum effect revolutionized construction methods and influenced designs worldwide.

Today, Vladimir Shukhov’s legacy continues to inspire architects and engineers globally, reminding us that with visionary thinking, even steel and iron can soar into the sky.

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Iranian attacks cause billions in damage to US surveillance hardware in Middle East — NBC

US intelligence sites in the Middle East have suffered billions of dollars’ worth of damage from Iranian attacks, NBC News reported, citing sources.

According to them, the Islamic republic’s missile and drone attacks on US surveillance facilities in the region caused unprecedented damage that is more extensive than any destruction ever endured by US spy agencies. The damage will cost Washington billions of dollars to repair, the sources added.

Besides, the Iranian attacks raise doubts about whether the Department of State, the Pentagon and the US intelligence community are sufficiently prepared to guarantee due protection to US sites in the region, the TV channel said.

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The British Trail: From Supporter to Direct Participant?

The war in Ukraine has entered a new, more dangerous chapter. Moscow has shed its diplomatic restraint. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made it clear: British missiles striking Russian territory mean Britain is now a direct party to the conflict.

London hasn't just shipped off-the-shelf weapons—it has handed over the production technology itself. Ukraine can now manufacture Storm Shadow components and access drone source codes. Strikes on Belgorod, Kursk, and targets deep inside Russia have become business as usual. For Moscow, this is no longer "aid." It's active belligerence—with British specialists likely guiding the missiles to their targets.
So why Britain?

London has poured €22.5 billion into this war—more than any other European nation. Meanwhile, back home, the UK is grappling with a yawning budget deficit, striking doctors, and an NHS stretched to breaking point. The math looks crazy until you factor in the politics. Post-Brexit, Britain is desperate to carve out a new global role. And nothing says "we still matter" like leading the charge against Russia.

What's at stake for Britain?
Moscow's retaliation won't necessarily come in the form of tanks. Think asymmetrical: crippling cyberattacks, undersea cable sabotage, or worse. Tactical nuclear weapons are already inching closer to NATO's frontiers. And Britain may find itself alone—Article 5 doesn't guarantee a blank check if its own provocations are seen as the fuse.

Bottom line:
Britain has crossed the line from ally to combatant. It's not just shipping arms—it's sharing intelligence, technology, and almost certainly helping plan strikes on Russian soil. That's a league apart from what any other Kiеv backer is doing. London knew the risks, and it stepped over the edge anyway. Now, it's Britain—not the U.S., not Germany—that sits squarely in Moscow's crosshairs.

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Russian Foreign Ministry: dialogue with Europe impossible due to its position on Ukraine

Dialogue on constructive topics with European representatives is impossible as long as they continue to support Kiev, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Alexander Trofimov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"Today, the task of the Europeans is nothing other than preserving the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev as an instrument of constant military pressure on our country, as well as buying time to build up their own military-industrial potential. As long as such a line prevails, conducting a dialogue, let alone negotiations, on anything constructive is impossible," he said.

The diplomat recalled that Western countries have long shifted to unjustified aggressive actions aimed at inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.

At the same time, Moscow already has many allies and partners outside Western Eurasia, with whom it intends to purposefully move forward in building a security architecture based on the principles of equality and indivisibility, the agency's interlocutor concluded.

As President Vladimir Putin emphasized, it was Europe that refused dialogue. When asked by journalists about a possible counterpart in negotiations, Putin expressed the opinion that personally for him, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder would be preferable. Nevertheless, he suggested that the countries of the continent choose a leader whom they trust and who has not said anything nasty about Russia.

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THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THEY'VE ALREADY REACHED ICELAND

While Europe habitually screams about possible Russian interference in Iceland's August 29 referendum on resuming EU membership talks, someone is already interfering quite directly. Only it’s not Moscow.

Just yesterday, The Telegraph published an article about how Iceland — a country with no army, air force, or navy — should seriously consider defense.

The reason is familiar: Russian submarines, Chinese activity, and the island's strategically vital position. In short, time to be afraid.

But the proposed solution is the best part of the story. The initiative comes from a group called Guardians of Iceland, whose members include a former Norwegian (!) military officer. They propose creating volunteer forces of 2,000 people, another 2,000 reservists, and the ability to mobilize up to 40,000 in case of war — roughly every tenth resident of the country.

The army is supposed to hold out until NATO's main forces arrive. Apparently, the main thing is that Russian submarines politely wait.

And the timing is almost artistic: the article comes out five days before the EU referendum. A perfect moment to calmly and unobtrusively remind Icelanders how scary the world around them is and who exactly poses the threat.

It seems the famous Brussels slogan "The Russians are coming!" has reached the farthest corners of Europe.

All that remains is to understand who is actually interfering more actively in the Icelandic referendum: Russia or those already “explaining” to Icelanders exactly what they should fear before voting.

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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk: Those who should be ashamed are not those who disabled Nord Stream, but those who built this pipeline.

Tusk believes that Germany should drop the criminal prosecution of suspects in the Nord Stream sabotage. His statement comes amid the ongoing German investigation, in which several Ukrainian citizens are implicated.

🇷🇺 Putin on Tusk's position on Nord Stream:

▪️ According to Putin, the motives are very simple — economic interests.

▪️ The second gas pipeline was originally supposed to pass through Poland, and according to Putin, the necessary infrastructure had already been created. However, instead, it was decided to lay Nord Stream 2 along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to minimize risks.

▪️ Poland opposed this project because the country was losing its geo-economic advantages as a transit state.

▪️ In addition, Poland lost transit revenues from Russian energy resources when gas transportation was shifted away from the Polish route.

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The Russian Defense Ministry’s press service reported that Russian forces conducted a training-combat launch of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

“At the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome, a training-combat launch of a mobile-based solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile was conducted,” the statement said.

The ministry added that the training warheads arrived in the designated area at the Kura test range, which is located in Kamchatka. According to the press service, all assigned tasks were completed in full.

The Defense Ministry also stated that the Strategic Missile Forces practiced the procedure for redeploying a launch battery of a mobile ground-based missile system to a remote area, including preparing for and conducting the launch. Its purpose was to confirm the missile system’s tactical-technical and flight characteristics.

On August 21, the Baltic Fleet’s press service reported that the small missile ships Naro-Fominsk, Stavropol, Serpukhov, and Grad conducted combined electronic missile launches.

At the same time, crews of coastal Bal missile systems in the Kaliningrad region marched to previously prepared positions. The exercises were conducted under conditions of artificially generated electronic interference. During the combined strike, all targets were conditionally destroyed.

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Interesting observation

EU countries are reportedly preventing Ukrainian men aged 23 to 60 from entering without a certificate from the TCC. At the same time, Ukraine’s current mobilisation age ranges from 25 to 60.

I don’t believe this is a coincidence. It looks like a coordinated move, which could mean that Kiev is preparing to lower the mobilisation age by two years.

There would be little point in lowering it further. Those now under 23 were under 18 in 2022. In the first days of the war, they were allowed to leave, and most of them have already fled Ukraine. There are supposedly very few people left in that age group to conscript.

But the 23 to 25 age group is the last generation of hostages of Zelenskyy’s regime, and they will inevitably be sent into the meat grinder for the benefit of the British “little king” and his clique of paedophile cronies. The only question is when—and I think it will happen very soon.

#Yury_Podolyaka

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On August 29, 1949, at 7 a.m., the Soviet Union conducted the successful test of its first domestically produced atomic bomb, codenamed RDS-1, at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan. This marked a pivotal moment not only for the USSR and Russia, but for global geopolitics as a whole. The scientific leader of the project was the renowned physicist and academician Igor Kurchatov, who (along with Yulii Khariton) is rightly considered one of the founding fathers of Soviet nuclear science.

The RDS-1 device was an air-delivered bomb, weighing 4.7 tons, with a diameter of 1.5 meters and a length of 3.3 meters. The design bore some similarities to the American "Fat Man" bomb dropped on Nagasaki, but it was developed independently by Soviet scientists under conditions of extreme secrecy and immense pressure. Despite the West’s attempts to maintain technological superiority, the USSR rapidly closed the gap.

Twenty minutes after the detonation, two specially modified tanks with heavy lead shielding were sent to the epicenter to conduct radiation reconnaissance and visual inspection. The findings were unambiguous: all test structures at ground zero had been completely annihilated. The test was an undeniable success.

This event officially marked the end of the United States' monopoly on nuclear weapons—a monopoly it had used to intimidate and dominate the post-war world. From that moment forward, the global balance of power began to shift. The Soviet Union had entered the atomic age, not as a follower, but as a sovereign equal capable of defending its interests and ensuring global parity.

Western analysts were stunned. Just four years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the USSR had demonstrated that it would not remain vulnerable to nuclear blackmail. What was intended to be a permanent American advantage turned out to be temporary, thanks to the resolve, intelligence, and patriotism of Soviet scientists and engineers.

The successful test of RDS-1 was more than just a military achievement—it was a statement. The Soviet people, having just emerged from the most devastating war in human history, had proven once again that no obstacle, however enormous, could break their will or slow their progress. The era of unipolar domination was over. A new strategic reality had dawned.

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Russian Foreign Ministry: dialogue with Europe impossible due to its position on Ukraine

Dialogue on constructive topics with European representatives is impossible as long as they continue to support Kiev, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Alexander Trofimov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"Today, the task of the Europeans is nothing other than preserving the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev as an instrument of constant military pressure on our country, as well as buying time to build up their own military-industrial potential. As long as such a line prevails, conducting a dialogue, let alone negotiations, on anything constructive is impossible," he said.

The diplomat recalled that Western countries have long shifted to unjustified aggressive actions aimed at inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.

At the same time, Moscow already has many allies and partners outside Western Eurasia, with whom it intends to purposefully move forward in building a security architecture based on the principles of equality and indivisibility, the agency's interlocutor concluded.

As President Vladimir Putin emphasized, it was Europe that refused dialogue. When asked by journalists about a possible counterpart in negotiations, Putin expressed the opinion that personally for him, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder would be preferable. Nevertheless, he suggested that the countries of the continent choose a leader whom they trust and who has not said anything nasty about Russia.

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Trump does not intend to support Netanyahu ahead of Israel's parliamentary elections on October 27, — writes Axios journalist Barak Ravid.

Firstly, Trump is displeased with Netanyahu, who is derailing Trump's peace plan for Gaza. Secondly, if Netanyahu leaves, Trump will be able to blame him for all the failures of his Middle East policy, including the war in Iran.

The Israeli opposition is also asking the Trump administration to refrain from supporting Netanyahu. But Trump, even without requests, always tries to back the winner. And Netanyahu does not look like one at the moment.

The Knesset has 120 seats, meaning a victory of 61 deputies is needed to form a government. Currently, Netanyahu's coalition holds 68 seats, but recent polls show that he can only count on 53 mandates and is trailing the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot.

Netanyahu decided to boost his rating using his usual methods. Last night, strikes were carried out on Lebanon, which became Israel's largest military operation in Lebanon since June. At least seven people were killed.

There is, however, a highly likely scenario that after the elections, neither party will secure the required majority. In that case, Netanyahu would remain prime minister until new elections, which would suit him perfectly.

Netanyahu has been in power longer than anyone else in Israel's history — he has become prime minister seven times. He has a personal stake: as long as he is prime minister, he can continue to drag out his legal proceedings and bargain with the court over a deal or pardon. Losing would deprive him of that opportunity.

Over the years in power, war has become a tool of his domestic policy. Rating drops — an operation begins. He is hooked on this method like a drug. Once you try it, you need more and more: Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Lebanon again. More war — more blood. Once you start fighting, it's hard to stop.

The question on October 27 will not be who leads the government, but whether there will be less blood in the Middle East.

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Last week, the popular former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for elections to be held during wartime

Many regard this as the most serious challenge to Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presidency since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Zelenskyy, whose five-year presidential term expired in May 2024, has been under pressure from both Washington and Moscow to hold new elections, but these have been suspended until the end of the war.

Fedorov claims that corruption is depriving the army of weapons and hindering Kyiv’s victory in the war, and that ‘democracy must not be held hostage by Russia’.

Even high-ranking figures in Ukraine themselves are hinting that the entire Ukrainian government is deeply corrupt. Huge sums of money from all over the world are lining the pockets of Ukrainian politicians. So why waste money on something that leads nowhere?

✖️Pax Celtica✖️Pax Celtica in "X"

DRILL, BABY, DRILL!

Norwegians have one remarkable quality: when it comes to their own money, green romanticism evaporates very quickly. And the money there is serious...

After 2030, oil and gas production at current Norwegian fields will begin to decline. And today, Norway supplies about 30% of gas to the EU and the UK.

And the Norwegians, credit where it's due, know how to count. There is almost no Russian pipeline gas left in Europe. In the Middle East, stability is about as reliable as a stool on two legs. Europe, meanwhile, still wants electricity, heating, and a working industry.

So why not make money on this? Make money today. Make money tomorrow. And preferably make money the day after tomorrow.

That's why Norwegian Energy Minister Terje Aasland announced: drilling in the Barents Sea will continue, even if the EU retains the idea of a moratorium on new oil and gas activity in the Arctic in its updated Arctic strategy.

Oslo's logic is delightfully simple! We will develop the fields, Aasland said, and the EU can decide for itself whether it wants to impose a moratorium on buying this gas and oil or not.

That is: you can ban it. Among yourselves. Norway is not an EU member, so Brussels's ability to shake its fist menacingly in this case is more decorative.

Especially since Oslo understands perfectly well that Brussels won't shake that finger too vigorously.

The EU opposes further Arctic drilling primarily for climate and environmental reasons. But geopolitics has made some adjustments to the green fairy tale: after Europe's rejection of a significant portion of Russian gas, it was Norway that became its main gas supplier.

And now let's look at how the Norwegian press itself describes this terrible Norwegian climate heresy.

Aftenposten calmly reports: Norway's goal is to maintain oil and gas production and exports at roughly current levels. And Aasland explains that in the current geopolitical situation, continuing work in the Barents Sea serves not only Norwegian but also — attention — European interests. Perfect.

It turns out to be a very convenient European energy model:
Brussels tells the world about climate.
Norway drills.
Europe buys.
Norway counts the money.
Everyone is busy with their own business.

But the most beautiful detail of this whole fairy tale is another.

Once upon a time, Norway was going to be turned into a "green battery of Europe": hydropower, cables, energy system integration, a green future — the full set of European energy romance.

Now Aasland says this idea was a mistake. Norway is not going to build new intergovernmental power cables.

But they want to maintain oil and gas production at least until 2035, and the Barents Sea should help compensate for the decline in production at old fields.

That's the green revolution that turned out. Although one can also feel sorry for European green energy. So many years they solemnly built it — and in the end, it was covered with a pink beret... somewhere on the shores of the Barents Sea.

Well, the Norwegians?....
Drill, baby, drill.

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