4:31 a.m.: Erdogan is in Russia trying to convince Putin to resume grain trade
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is traveling to Sochi in southwest Russia on Monday to discuss with his counterpart Vladimir Putin the resumption of the deal on Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea in time for the fall harvest.
The Turkish leader hopes to turn these talks over the transport of Ukrainian grain into a springboard for broader peace negotiations between Kiev and Moscow.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the few leaders within NATO who maintains good relations with Vladimir Putin.
2:59 a.m.: Ukrainian drones shot down near Crimea and in the Kursk region
Moscow claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian drone off the annexed Crimean peninsula on Monday and a second aircraft in Russia’s Kursk region on the border with Ukraine.
At around 1 a.m. local time on Monday (around 10 p.m. GMT on Sunday), “Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed in the air over the Black Sea near the Crimean peninsula and over the Kursk region area by deployed air defense systems.” , the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram, which counted a total of two machines.
2:27 a.m.: Russian attack on an export port in Odessa
Russia launched an attack on a major Ukrainian grain export port on Sunday evening, Ukrainian officials said. The Ukrainian Air Force urged residents of the port of Ismail on the banks of the Danube in the Odessa region to seek shelter as local press reported explosions in the area.
Moscow, in turn, said it had foiled a drone attack launched by Kiev on the Kursk region in southern Russia, which borders Ukraine.
The gist of September 3rd
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron about “ways to ensure the functioning” of the corridor established by Kiev in the Black Sea to ensure the safety of shipping after the withdrawal of Moscow’s agreement on grain exports.
An early Russian drone strike on the Odessa region injured two people and damaged port infrastructure, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram. Air defense systems shot down 22 Iranian-made drones, the air force said.
With AFP and Portal