Preparations are underway for Russian-run elections in the four regions of Ukraine illegally annexed by Moscow last year. The ballots are being held as part of municipal elections across Russia that end on Sept. 10. The EU in June condemned Russia’s plan for elections in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, saying the move “seriously violates the UN Charter and Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Reuters reported that authorities were setting up polling booths in Mariupol in Donetsk on Thursday, and that a handful of residents cast votes.
Russian-led forces are holding military exercises in Belarus near the border with Poland, weeks after President Vladimir Putin warned Warsaw that he would treat any “aggression” toward Minsk as an attack on his own country. Kremlin troops targeted the Vinnytsya region in central Ukraine with two Kalibr cruise missiles overnight, one of which was downed, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Kyiv’s army continues advancing south of Bakhmut and in the direction of Melitopol, the General Staff said.
Russia said a Ukrainian drone hit a building in the town of Kurchatov, a few kilometers from the large Kursk nuclear power plant, the second such incident in the past two months. It was the latest is a mounting wave of drone assaults on Moscow and other regions. Ukraine hasn’t commented.
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Markets
Wheat traders are closely watching potential developments on a revamped Black Sea grain export agreement. Turkey’s foreign minister is doing a round of talks in Moscow, and Putin is set to meet with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan next week.
Oil is headed for the biggest weekly gain since April after Russia signaled it would extend export curbs and China fired another salvo of state support to bolster the economy in the world’s largest crude importer. Read more: Russia Agrees on Further OPEC+ Oil-Export Cuts, Novak Says