0657GMT//The Kremlin denies hitting Poland with drones; North Korea art goes on display in Moscow

DRONE STRIKE ON POLAND: Russian officials denied that the Kremlin deliberately targeted Poland with drones on Wednesday. Poland said that it shot down four Russian drones in "the most serious breach of Nato security" since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022. (COMMENT: The drone strikes on Poland feel like a deliberate Russian test of Polish defences. Nato has played down the drone strikes.)

Russian media has virturally igrnored the drones strikes on Poland. It initially reported the strikes but has since gone quiet. (COMMENT: Russian media takes the Kremlin's line on the big issues of the day. This means that the Kremlin doesn't want the issue discussed.)

Analysts said that the Russian drone strike on Poland was an "escalation" designed to test Nato and Polish resilience. They said that the Kremlin sees Nato's eastern flank as "vulnerable" and US resolve to defend its Nato allies as "faltering".

NORTH KOREAN ART: An exhibition of North Korean art has opened at the All-Russian Museum of Decorative Art in Moscow. This is, possibly, the first time that North Korea has officially displayed art abroad. The exhibition shows paintings in the North Korean realism style. (COMMENT: Many of the paintings show North Korean soldiers fighting in Russia's Kursk region with Russian soldiers. Others shows happy North Korean peasants working the land, clear propaganda. The show does highlight, once again, blossoming Russia-North Korea relations. There are 123 art pieces in the exhibition, including ceramics and embroidery.)

ECONOMIC DECLINE: Russia's war-fuelled economic boom has finished, a pro-Kremlin Russian think tank said. Investment activity in Russia was running at nearly 6% less in Jan.-July this year compared to the same period in 2024, said Centre for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting. (COMMENT: This is in line with general forecasts around the Russian economy. Its war-fuelled boom is faltering and the civilian economy is in recession.)

HEATING PROBLEMS: The Russian region of Yakutia has delayed turning on the regional heating systems because of a lack of coal supplies, officials have admitted. Snow has started to fall in the central Siberian region but schools and other municipal buildings are reported not to be heated to save money. (COMMENT: Electricity prices in Russia have jumped 16% since July, a reflection of the inflation built into the Russian economy. This is straining already-pressured provincial budgets. Russia's regions have spent heavily supporting Putin's war in Ukraine.)