London doubles down, Meta hides the evidence, surprise visitors in Moscow: RT stories that shaped the week

RT’s essential stories of the last seven days include tragedy in Nepal and power politics in the Vatican Britain doubles down against Russia Russia has already warned the UK of “consequences” for Ukraine’s use of British-made drones to strike Russian civilian infrastructure. These words were clearly lost on British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who arrived in Kiev on Monday to mark the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. Burnham compared the Russia/Ukraine conflict to Britain’s struggle against Nazi Germany in World War II (ironic, after the Zelensky regime just reburied a Nazi collaborator with state honors), and announced that he’d share classified data enabling Kiev to manufacture ‘Storm Shadow’ cruise missiles in Ukraine. Two days later, the Ukrainians showed Russia exactly what these missiles will be used for, injuring multiple civilians in a Storm Shadow strike on a Donetsk apartment block . Russia’s response was immediate and kinetic. Missiles and drones pounded military and dual-use targets across Kiev, with waves of projectiles hitting the Ukrainian capital from morning until evening on Thursday. Meanwhile, the British media chose to run a warning from supposed “Kremlin adviser” Andrey Fedorov, who said that he “cannot exclude 100% that there might be some semi-military” attacks on British soil too. Read more How close are Russia and the UK to war? Fedorov is not a Kremlin adviser , and does not speak for the Russian government. However, Moscow’s official position was unequivocal, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stating that Russian forces may take action “against any British military facilities and equipment in Ukraine and beyond.” RT looked at the dire state of diplomatic relations between Russia and the UK this week and concluded that Moscow’s restraint is rapidly reaching its limits .

Spy intrigue in Moscow With Burnham climbing the escalation ladder as fast as possible, planespotters saw an unusual flight entering Russian airspace on Tuesday morning: a US Air Force C-17A Globemaster. It soon emerged that CIA Director John Ratcliffe was on board , bound for meetings with his Russian intelligence counterparts. An unusual visitor to Moscow this morning. 👀 A US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III flew from Riga to Moscow Vnukovo Airport https://t.co/D7vylYesDQ pic.twitter.com/jXbOSj0LXM — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) August 25, 2026 It’s been nearly five years since a CIA chief visited the Russian capital, and the Western press went into speculation overdrive. Politico claimed that Ratcliffe had traveled nearly 10,000 miles to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin not to escalate “against the Baltic states,” while the New York Times claimed that he presented the Russians with a damning indictment of their military campaign against Ukraine, including – no joke – casualty figures sourced straight from pro-Ukrainian Telegram channels. Read more Lavrov reveals what brought CIA chief and Vatican envoy to Moscow US President Donald Trump kept his cards close to his chest, as did Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “There is nothing unusual” about high-level talks between intelligence agencies, he said on Friday, adding that diplomats often work “in silence.” Less than a day before Ratcliffe touched down at Vnukovo Airport, the Vatican’s chief diplomat, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, landed in Moscow on a mission of his own. Gallagher’s diplomacy was more public , with the Vatican envoy repeating the Holy See’s calls for an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Russian analyst Ksenia Smertina looked behind the scenes and found a calculated effort by the Vatican to place itself at the center of the peace process,