A Ukrainian deputy defence minister said troops had liberated the strategically important village of Urozhayne in the south, which is on the main path of the offensive to cut off Russia’s land bridge to the Crimea region.

Separately, a container ship departed Odesa on Wednesday via a new interim corridor established by the government in Kyiv, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a post on Facebook. It was the first to leave Ukraine’s seaport in a month after Russia pulled out of a deal establishing a route for the safe passage of ships transporting grain in the Black Sea.

Latest developments

• Russia discusses return to capital controls to stem rouble slump
• Russia’s emergency rate hike fails to lift rouble after crash
• Ex-FBI agent pleads guilty to working for Russian billionaire
• Latvia tightens border security as Belarus crossings rise

Wheat swings after Russian attack on Ukrainian port on Danube

Wheat prices in Chicago fluctuated between gains and losses on Wednesday after Russian drones reportedly hit a key Danube River grain port, in the latest attack aimed at Ukraine’s crop-export infrastructure.

The weapons struck the Ukrainian port of Reni on the Danube overnight and damaged a silo, Romanian media reported on Wednesday, citing footage from people living close to the border only a few hundred metres away. That sent wheat prices as high as $6.31 a bushel before prices pared gains.

Russia was targeting grain infrastructure. Storage suffered from the attack, Oleh Kiper, head of the military administration of the Odesa region, said earlier on Telegram, without naming the affected port.

Paris milling wheat also see-sawed after two down days.

The escalation of hostilities in the breadbasket region could compound trade disruptions after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal last month. That has made river channels — as well as rail and road routes — increasingly important to ferry Ukrainian crops abroad, with farmers in the middle of collecting this year’s harvests.

China’s defence chief in Belarus as tension with Nato mounts

China’s defence chief arrived in Belarus for a three-day visit to strengthen ties with the staunch Russian ally as Nato member states bolster border security with the nation.

Defence Minister Li Shangfu, who is aiming to intensify military ties with nations across the globe, flew from Russia and was welcomed on Wednesday in Minsk by his counterpart, Viktor Khrenin, according to the state-owned news agency Belta.

The visit coincides with increased calls from Poland and the Baltic region to tighten border security, citing the presence of Russian mercenaries that have decamped to Belarus as well as renewed attempts by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to provoke tensions by sending migrants to the frontier.

Polish President Andrzej Duda told his Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkevics, that Warsaw was prepared to send military assistance to shore up its border with Belarus — and accused Russia of fomenting the chaos. Lithuania meanwhile said it would temporarily close two border checkpoints from Friday, redirecting traffic to four other crossings.

“Poland and Latvia have the same problem — that the border is being attacked in a hybrid fashion by Belarus,” Duda told reporters in Warsaw alongside Rinkevics. “We have no doubt that it’s in cooperation with Russia.”

Polish and Baltic officials will meet on 28 August in Warsaw to discuss joint action on the border, Lithuanian Internal Affairs Minister Agne Bilotaite said. A potential closure was being discussed on a technical level, she said.

Russians take rouble plunge in stride as economy adapts to war

Panic buying? Bank runs? Not at all — it’s business as usual in Russia.

The rouble’s latest plunge isn’t triggering the kind of anxiety associated with a typical currency collapse in the country, as President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine extends past the 18-month mark.

The last time there was a crash — after the onset of the war in February 2022 and ensuing international sanctions — Russians were scrambling to buy cars, washing machines and even sanitary towels, diapers and coffee capsules. This time around — at least so far — there has been no evidence of a repeat.

“Typically, it’s in Russian DNA to track what is happening with the rouble-dollar rate,” said Denis (46), a factory worker from the Lipetsk region, south of Moscow, whose small business collapsed last year. “Still, there are worse problems now and I don’t think it will affect my daily life further.”

The rouble, the third-worst performing currency this year in emerging markets, broke through 100 per US dollar on Monday. That forced Russia’s central bank to call an extraordinary meeting to hike the benchmark rate to 12% from 8.5%. Authorities are also considering further capital-control measures. The currency traded at 96.64 as of 2.12pm in Moscow on Wednesday.

Such an attitude shows how quickly Russian life has adjusted to wartime.

The drafting of hundreds of thousands of people to the armed forces, constant drone attacks, including on Moscow, and Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed uprising in June are among new things Russians may be worried about. Another factor is a lot of rouble savings accounts have been wiped out by previous crashes, while some active members of the population have departed to other countries.

Only about 60% of Russians think the rouble rate is affecting their income now and about a half do not track it at all, according to an Otkritie Bank survey published this week.

“The rouble rate has not yet affected my lifestyle,” said Sofia (40), a teacher from Voronezh, in southwest Russia. “It is still concerning, but comparing it to the war and possibly mobilisation, this is nothing.”

Finland to build EU’s largest stockpile for chemical and nuclear emergencies

Finland will build up the largest strategic reserve of emergency supplies in the European Union after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked an effort within the bloc to boost its crisis preparedness.

The project, which received €242-million in funding from the European Commission, will set up a strategic reserve intended for use by countries in Northern and Eastern Europe in case of emergencies, Finland’s Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats are more likely due to the current global situation, and that is what motivates the European Commission as well,” Tarja Rantala, a project manager at the ministry, said in an interview. “This is also connected to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

The stockpile to be largely built up during 2024 in Finland will include protective and measurement equipment, detectors, rapid tests as well as medicines and vaccines to be used by both first responders and the civilian population, also in case of pandemics, Rantala added. DM