CNBC Daily Open: A thousand drones and one strained U.S.-Ukraine alliance

A police car is parked in front of a burning oil terminal following an air attack in St. Petersburg on Oct. 18, 2026, amid the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Russia shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones near Saint Petersburg, authorities said on Oct. 18, 2026, with an oil terminal hit and flights disrupted at one of the country's busiest airports.Stringer | AFP | Getty ImagesHello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC's Daily Open.Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones at targets across Russia over the weekend, with strikes setting energy facilities ablaze in St. Petersburg. But tensions between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump on the diplomatic front have also complicated Ukraine's warfighting efforts. What you need to know todayVolodymyr Zelenskyy is fighting a war of attrition against Russia, and an increasingly difficult war of persuasion in Washington.Even as Kyiv launches a massive drone strike against the Russian city of St Petersburg and tries to hold back Russian forces on the ground, Zelenskyy is fighting on the diplomatic front to keep Washington in his country's corner. Over the weekend, Trum...