Russia launched several waves of Shahed loitering drones overnight, with many aimed at port facilities and other infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region. Air defenses shot down 22 out of 25 drones. Ukrainian media reported explosions in Odesa and in Reni, a major Danube River port near the Romanian border. The extent of damage is still being assessed.
The strikes come a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are scheduled to meet in Sochi, Russia. Turkey’s leader is expected to attempt to persuade Putin to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that Russia abandoned in July.
The Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine’s southeast sustained heavy shelling from Russian artillery and air-bombs overnight, with at least 21 civilian infrastructure facilities damaged, according to the area’s top official. With its forces stretched thin and having sustained heavy casualties in the 18-month-old conflict, Russia has begun appealing to citizens of neighboring former Soviet states with recruitment advertisements to fight in Ukraine, the UK defense ministry said in a daily update.
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Markets
Wheat traders are watching for movement on Black Sea grain exports when Putin and Erdogan meet on Monday in Sochi. Ukraine, meanwhile, is pushing back on an effort by Poland and four other EU countries to extend a ban on its grain. A meeting on the topic is scheduled for Tuesday in Brussels.
Oil prices surged above $85 as a months-long effort by OPEC+ to reduce supplies gripped the physical market and China showed a new resolve to bolster its economy, a key engine of global crude consumption.
