CHICAGO, July 16 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures ended mixed on Thursday, with the most-active contracts easing on a round of profit-taking, but values remained elevated due to hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, both major global wheat suppliers, traders said.

• Benchmark CBOT September soft red winter wheat WU26 settled down 2-3/4 cents at $6.74-3/4 per bushel.

• CBOT December WZ26 wheat ended down 1 cent at $6.91 a bushel but deferred contracts ended higher.

• The CBOT September contract reached $6.98-1/4 during the trading session, but fell short of its life-of-contract high set on May 14 of $7.00, prompting traders to book profits.

• K.C. September hard red winter wheat KWU26 ended down 3-1/2 cents at $7.16-1/2 a bushel, with cash dealers noting a pickup in farmer sales this week.

• Minneapolis September spring wheat MWEU26 rose 2 cents to settle at $6.85-1/4 a bushel.

• Ukraine and Russia launched missile and drone attacks on Thursday on vessels in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the route for a quarter of Russia's grain exports, stepping up hostilities.

• Wheat futures have surged this week on fears of disruptions to Black Sea exports at a time when wheat supplies are seen tightening in Europe and North America.

• The International Grains Council left its 2026/27 world wheat production forecast at 821 million metric tons, unchanged from last month, but noted increased uncertainty in supplies from the Black Sea region.

• Germany's 2026 wheat harvest is expected to fall 5.4% year on year to about 21.89 million metric tons, with crops suffering from a recent heatwave and scarce rain, said DRV, the country's association of farm cooperatives.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported net export sales of U.S. wheat in the week ended July 9 at 235,100 metric tons, below a range of trade expectations.