【Update】Ozon's Belgorod sorting center and delivery hub hit: shipping…

Peskov said Putin will fly to Vladivostok on Sept 2-3 to chair a meeting on the Far East's socio-economic development, attend the EEF plenary session, hold bilateral meetings and, as is traditional, open a new production facility in the region; Putin called the EEF a unique platform for discussing the country's development vector. The forum runs in Vladivostok from Sept 1 to 4.

New since Aug 29: Peskov confirmed that Russian and US intelligence services are in regular and substantive contact, and said Putin's contacts with Lukashenko are unrelated to the CIA director's visit to Russia; he said a Putin-Trump-Zelensky meeting is possible only when agreements reached need to be formalized; Russia is open to Ukraine talks in Turkey but sees no preconditions yet. He named completing the SMO tasks and building a new European security architecture as Russia's priorities.

New since Aug 29: the Kremlin said Putin will discuss Yerevan's EU aspirations with Armenian PM Pashinyan in Bishkek; no separate meeting between Putin and UN Secretary-General Guterres is planned; Uzbek President Mirziyoyev will travel to Bishkek for the SCO summit.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Aug 30 that, in line with instructions received, the Russian Armed Forces have begun preparing massive strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities in response to Kyiv's continued attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure and the fuel and energy sector.

Peskov said gasoline deliveries from Belarusian refineries to Russia are running at maximum, that Minsk responds sensitively to Russian needs, and thanked Belarusian friends. The Russian government had earlier extended the export ban on certain fuel types to Sept 30.

Putin said that despite a difficult period for the industry, Russia retains leading positions on the global coal market. RBC published the item at 00:56 on Aug 30 without specifying the exact occasion of the remark.

Russia's MFA said the African Corps of the Russian Armed Forces helped Niger's national forces suppress the mutiny in Niamey on Aug 29; the situation is fully controlled by the legitimate authorities led by President Abdourahamane Tchiani. Moscow accused former European metropoles of inciting the mutiny and pledged to keep supporting Niger against extremists.

On the eve of the SCO summit, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Chinese President Xi Jinping held an informal meeting in Kyrgyzstan.

New since Aug 29: the number of Russian citizens missing after the floods rose from eight to nine; Nepal's authorities warned of possible further flooding.

Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin said the ministry will begin discussing a draft law allowing airlines to sell more tickets than there are seats (overbooking) in September, setting a timeline for legalization.

Media reported that from Sept 1 families with children gain the right to mortgage holidays, explaining how the mechanism will work in practice and stressing that it is not a debt write-off.

New compared with the Aug 28-29 border-area attacks: on the evening of Aug 30 Ukrainian forces launched a targeted missile strike on Belgorod city, killing a man and a 16-year-old teenager; acting governor Alexander Shuvaev summed up in the evening that 16 people were injured, including seven 16-17-year-old teenagers, several in serious condition. The attack set seven warehouses on fire, one roof collapsing. The Investigative Committee opened a terrorism case.

At about 1 a.m. on Aug 30, a Setra coach travelling from Georgia to Moscow rear-ended a KamAZ truck at km 3 of the Kavkaz federal highway near Inozemtsevo close to Zheleznovodsk and veered into a ditch; 43 people were on board. Five died at the scene and one seriously injured passenger died in intensive care; 28 were hospitalized, including 11 children, with four in intensive care, and another 14 received outpatient care. TASS, citing emergency services, said most passengers were Georgian citizens. The Investigative Committee opened a case under Art. 238(3) of the Criminal Code and Bastrykin took the probe under personal control.

Reed beds near the Chumburki hamlet outside Anapa caught fire on Aug 30; the burning area grew from one to ten hectares and by 20:00 about 5 hectares were still actively burning and approaching residential areas. Some 80 rescuers and 25 pieces of equipment, including swamp vehicles, are deployed; neighboring municipalities sent reinforcements and water is being delivered to residents. Traffic was temporarily restricted on the federal highway from the Chumburka ring road to the Anapskaya stanitsa interchange.

A passenger ferry carrying 259 people capsized off Northern Cyprus and sank completely at a depth of 514 metres. By evening, seven deaths were confirmed, 237 people had been rescued and about 23 remained missing; eight people including the captain were detained, and a possible collision with an object is being investigated. The Russian Union of Travel Industry said there were no Russian tourists on board, and Russian checks found no Russian citizens among the dead.

Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin said in an interview ahead of the EEF that, besides Iran, Azerbaijan and Central Asian states, Gulf and Southeast Asian countries show enormous interest in the North-South transport corridor (St Petersburg to Mumbai, 7,200 km) and want to connect their port capacities. In 2025 container trains began running along the eastern branch to Afghanistan and Iraq; memoranda have been signed with Bahrain and Oman, and agreements with Saudi Arabia and Qatar are being prepared.

New compared with unverified reports on Aug 28: on the evening of Aug 30 Ozon's press service confirmed that its Belgorod sorting centre and delivery hub came under attack, employees were evacuated, there are casualties (number not disclosed) and the fire has been localized. Delivery and acceptance of orders, as well as intake of goods from sellers in Belgorod and the region, are suspended until logistics routes are rebuilt.

At the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in China, the Russian team of Yegor Gromadsky, Andrey Bobrov and Pyotr Borshchev scored 4,693 points to win the team title; Egypt was second (4,687) and France third (4,482). Gromadsky also took individual silver (1,581). Russians compete under Russian state symbols.

Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev won his first-round match at the US Open and advanced to the second round.

New since Aug 29: in the Russian Premier League round, Moscow's Spartak drew with Orenburg (Daku scored for Spartak) and Kazan's Rubin beat Makhachkala Dynamo.

New since Aug 29: according to Lenta.ru, the Russian judo team topped the medal table at the Grand Slam tournament that concluded that day (Vorobyova had won gold there on Aug 29).

On the evening of 30 August, Ozon's press service said its sorting center and delivery hub in Belgorod had been hit: staff were evacuated, preliminary reports indicate injuries, and a fire broke out but has been localized. Ozon stated it has temporarily stopped delivering and accepting customer orders and has also stopped accepting goods from sellers in Belgorod and Belgorod Oblast; delivery and goods intake will resume once logistics routes are rebuilt. Practical takeaway for sellers: if your FBO/FBS intake or last-mile delivery runs through the Belgorod node, reroute to other hubs immediately; lead times and inventory turns for goods already in transit or in stock there should be recalculated as a force-majeure interruption. None of the reports mentions a compensation scheme for damaged seller goods, and there is no public information on that point.

Kommersant's 30 August report notes that Ozon warehouses have been under continuous attack since 22 August, with hits in Krasnodar Krai, Dagestan, Stavropol Krai, Adygea, Rostov Oblast and other regions. Vedomosti the same day added detail from the previous day: on 29 August two Ozon facilities in Rostov Oblast were affected — one was struck by a UAV, the other was undamaged but suspended anyway because of the security risk in its area. The implication for sellers is that this is a nine-day, multi-region corridor of risk across southern Russia and the North Caucasus, not a one-off warehouse incident. Concentrating FBO inventory in a single southern hub is now materially riskier; September stocking should be spread across several hubs while keeping an FBS ship-from-own-warehouse channel open.

Kommersant reported on 30 August that the government decided on 29 August to extend the export ban on diesel, marine fuel and gasoil for producers to 30 September 2026 inclusive (the restriction had been due to expire on 31 August). For other market participants the ban remains in force until 31 January 2027, and the gasoline export embargo runs to the same date, covering refineries as well. The official rationale is maintaining a stable situation on the domestic fuel market; Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said restrictions are to be lifted as the market recovers, since exports matter for refinery utilisation and for preventing product oversupply. In late August the Russian Fuel Union itself petitioned the government for the extension, arguing that while diesel is now selling at filling stations almost without interruption, availability for independent operators is limited and market pricing is not functioning properly. For sellers: diesel is the main fuel for line-haul trucking and last-mile delivery, so September rates for inbound deliveries to warehouses and peak-season stocking remain exposed to the fuel component — build a buffer for it when costing fulfillment.

The Central Bank of Russia published no new official rate set on Sunday 30 August, so the rates effective 29 August remained in force: USD 85.6007 RUB, EUR 99.6820 RUB, CNY 12.7335 RUB (CNY per 1 yuan in roubles; USD and EUR per 1 currency unit). The figures are identical to the previous coverage day, but this is not stale data — the CBR simply does not set new rates at weekends. For pricing, settlement and converting rouble proceeds back into yuan or dollars on 30 August, and when re-running the margin formula, use this set. The next set is normally published and takes effect on Monday 31 August, after which rouble-denominated costs may shift.