Russia's war on Ukraine latest news: drone attacks smash Odesa power network

All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said on Saturday. ODESA GRAIN EXPORTS * Traders have no plans to suspend grain shipments from Ukraine's Odesa Black Sea ports due to the latest Russian attack on the region's energy system, Agriculture Minister Mykola Solky said.

All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said on Saturday. ODESA GRAIN EXPORTS

* Traders have no plans to suspend grain shipments from Ukraine's Odesa Black Sea ports due to the latest Russian attack on the region's energy system, Agriculture Minister Mykola Solky said. CONFLICT

Ukraine attacked occupied Melitopol, a strategically located city in the country's southeast, on Saturday evening. The Russian-installed authorities said a missile attack killed two people and injured 10, while the exiled mayor of the city said scores of "invaders" were killed. * Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

DIPLOMACY, CULTURE * Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to conquer parts of Ukraine and shows no restraint in his brutality, but it is still important to keep contacts open in case a moment arrives to end the war, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

* Russia wants to turn Ukraine into a "dependent dictatorship" like Belarus, the wife of jailed Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Byalyatski said upon receiving the prize on his behalf, speaking his words. * Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, freed in a prisoner swap for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, said he wished her good luck on the tarmac in Abu Dhabi where they were exchanged on Thursday.

ECONOMY * A dozen countries including Belgium, Italy, Poland and Slovenia have made a push to "significantly" lower a planned European Union cap on gas prices, as the bloc struggles to strike a deal on the measure.

* The Russian-installed administration of Ukraine's Kherson region said it had begun changing locally circulated Ukrainian hryvnia currency into Russian roubles, with hryvnia circulation in Moscow-controlled areas of the region to end on Jan. 1.