Russian Soyuz rocket with Luna 25 module launched to the Moon

On August 10, 2023 the Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a Fregat-M upper stage was launched to the Moon from Vostochny cosmodrome. It carried Luna 25 module. This is the first Russian mission to the Moon. The previous spacecraft, Luna 24, was s launched in 1976 by the Soviet Union.

This spacecraft will make a soft landing near the south pole of the Moon.
Since the 1990s, the Luna-Globe program has been developed in Russia to study the internal structure of the Moon. It included penetrators (shock probes that had to be inserted into the lunar soil at three or four points at high speed), orbiters, landing stations, and lunar rovers.

The Russian robotic Moon exploration program includes several landing missions of Luna-25, Luna-27, Luna-28 which should be implemented step by step with increasing complexity of the science goals and implemented technologies. They aimed at the exploration of mineralogical, chemical, and isotopic compositions of the lunar regolith, as well as the search for volatile compounds.
For the surface operations this lander is equipped with robotic arm that should excavate lunar regolith in multiple locations to the depths 20-30 cm, take and deliver sample of lunar soil (1-2 cm3) to the laser spectrometer for the elemental and isotopic analysis. One of the Luna 25 aims is to find water.
After the Russian Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) onboard the American Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) showed the presence of water in the lunar soil, it was decided to focus on the study of the polar regions of the Moon.
Luna 25 will land at approximately the same time as Indian Chandrayaan-3 mission.