What happened on the day of August 31. The main thing

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Bishkek to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Russian intelligence has warned of possible attempts to interfere in the elections, and the Bank of Russia has submitted a draft of the main directions of monetary policy for 2027-2029. All the details and other main events of the day are in the Izvestia digest.

Putin arrives in Bishkek for the SCO summit

Putin arrived in Bishkek on August 31 to attend the SCO anniversary summit. At Manas airport, the Russian leader was met by the head of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Adylbek Kasymaliev. The SCO leaders' summit will be held on September 1.

In Bishkek, Putin held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Russian leader noted the development of cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in the economy, energy, industry, space, transport and logistics. According to him, mutual supplies of agricultural products increased by 34%, and the tourist flow between the countries increased by 43% in the first half of 2026.

Putin announced Russia's readiness to transfer the current visa-free regime with China to a permanent basis, if Beijing deems it possible. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that the leaders discussed the Ukrainian crisis only "tangentially," focusing on bilateral relations and trade and economic cooperation. Xi Jinping said that the desire of the peoples of Russia and China for peace, development and cooperation remains unchanged. Putin also stressed the active cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in the UN, BRICS, G20 and other international formats.

In addition, the Russian president met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Putin noted the strengthening of a particularly privileged strategic partnership between the two countries. According to him, the trade turnover between Russia and India increased by more than 2%, and tourist exchanges increased by 16% in 2025.

Attempts to interfere in the State Duma elections

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has announced a strategy by the European Union (EU) and leading European countries to destabilize the situation in Russia ahead of the State Duma elections. According to the agency, European structures are discussing with Ukraine the intensification of sabotage and attacks on Russian facilities, as well as possible cyber attacks on the electoral infrastructure.

The SVR also claims that foreign opposition structures have been instructed to spread theses about the illegitimacy of the elections and call for their boycott. In addition, the collection of compromising information about Russian politicians and provocations at polling stations were discussed in Vilnius and Berlin. After the elections, PACE and the European Parliament may declare non-recognition of their results.

Chairman of the State Duma Commission Vasily Piskarev warned about attempts to collect personal data of Russians through the resources of foreign agents and undesirable organizations. Peskov said that Russia is ready for such attempts to interfere and has experience in countering them. According to him, the recognition or non-recognition of the elections by European countries is of no fundamental importance to Moscow.

Draft of the main directions of the Bank of Russia's PREP

The Bank of Russia presented a draft of the main directions of the PREP for 2027-2029. According to the baseline scenario, the key rate will decrease to 10.5–12.5% in 2027, 8-9% in 2028, and 7.5–8.5% in 2029. At the same time, the Central Bank expects inflation to reach 4% in the next three years.

The regulator will change the procedure for the entry into force of the new key rate. If the Central Bank changes it at its meeting on Friday, the new level will be effective from next Wednesday, not from Monday. The Bank of Russia explained this by the peculiarities of calculations for weekly auctions and the periods of averaging of mandatory reserves.

Central Bank Deputy Chairman Alexei Zabotkin said that the space for lowering the key rate had shrunk back in July. The regulator will make further decisions taking into account a combination of economic factors, and will present an updated forecast in October.

Attacks by the Russian Armed Forces on military supplies and logistics centers of Ukraine

Russian troops hit a cargo ship with military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the Yuzhny port, as well as logistics centers in the Kiev and Odessa regions. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the DHL warehouse in the Cellars was used to store drones and components, and the Zammler Warehouse center in Boryspil was used to store and distribute military cargo from Western countries. A logistics center with military supplies from the port of Odessa was hit in Nerubayskoye.

In addition, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation attacked Ukrainian fuel, energy and transport infrastructure facilities, ammunition depots, fuel and military equipment, as well as points of deployment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and foreign mercenaries in 142 districts. During the day, Russian air defense systems shot down 766 Ukrainian drones, seven guided aerial bombs and three HIMARS rockets.