President Vladimir Putin traveled to the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District for the first time since June’s attempted mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group. He met with top officials including Valery Gerasimov, head of the General Staff, who’d been a key focus of criticism by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin ahead of the uprising.

Moscow’s efforts to paralyze Ukrainian food shipments — by ending a safe-transit agreement and targeting key facilities with air strikes — are succeeding. About a third of the country’s crop exports, and the foreign currency that comes with them, have been wiped out since its Black Sea ports were effectively blocked last month.

Ukraine’s air defense took down 15 out of 17 strike drones overnight targeting infrastructure, including in the region of Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, said military and regional authorities. Russia’s defense ministry said it shot down a Ukrainian missile over Crimea with no casualties reported. Most of the front line in southeastern Ukraine has remained static over the past week, the UK defense ministry said, despite Kyiv’s forces’ securing the village of Urozhaine. “Both sides confront a similar challenge: attempting to defeat well-entrenched forces while having limited uncommitted forces to open new assaults,” the UK said.

Latest Coverage

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Markets

Wheat Rises, Oil Posts a Weekly Loss

Wheat prices rose Friday following a report that a Ukrainian sea drone attempted to attack two Russian warships in the Black Sea.

Oil posted its first weekly loss since June as low trading volumes left the market vulnerable to macroeconomic concerns, overshadowing signs of a tight physical environment.

Coming Up

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at BRICS summit next week