Exclusives
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Forget easing Russian sanctions. Europe should be boarding Russian tankers.. Wagner veterans ride Russia's oil tankers through NATO waters. The cargo could fill Europe's reserves. Nobody stops them. |
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Türkiye’s Ukraine war bill: soybean imports at risk as Erdoğan warns of global crisis. Wartime disruptions already cut Ukrainian grain deliveries to Türkiye 16%—and Ankara is now pushing hard for peace talks. |
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Ukraine’s fuel costs spike as global tensions push inflation above forecast. February’s 7.6% reading slightly missed the NBU’s forecast—fuel was the culprit. |
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Bank Lviv sale shows Ukraine’s development finance model can actually work. Three development funds spent 20 years on this. Crédit Agricole spent one deal buying the result. |
Military
Russia's Africa Corps fighters killed in Mali ambush amid accusations of civilian killings JNIM claimed responsibility for the 9 March attack on a joint Russian-Malian convoy near Nampala.
Fires tear through one of southern Russia's biggest oil hubs after drone attack in Krasnodar Krai Tikhoretsk complex processes and ships fuel across southern Russia via Transneft network.
Russia's ground drones lost Starlink – now they need infantry escorts to operate Forcing operators into the open defeats much of the purpose of unmanned systems.
Russia kills 15-year-old girl in drone strike on Chernihiv Oblast as 94-UAV overnight assault hits 11 locations across Ukraine Ukrainian air defenses shot down 77 of 94 Russian drones launched overnight — but one reached a residential home in Chernihiv region, killing a teenage girl and wounding both her parents.
Drones hit Transneft-linked oil hub in southern Russia, setting tanks ablaze Russian officials called it falling debris. Eyewitness footage showed burning tanks. The two accounts of what happened overnight at the Tikhoretsk-Neft oil depot in Krasnodar Krai are difficult to reconcile.
Russia didn't expect Ukraine to learn to strike 1,500 km deep. It moved most of its air defenses to occupied territories Ukraine destroyed them there. Now Russia's cities are exposed.
Three years of bombing Ukraine taught Russia how to break air defenses. Now, it shares lesson with Iran The tactics Russia used on Ukraine are now targeting US forces in the Gulf.
Intelligence and technology
Ukrainian firm develops "Chipa" net gun to physically snare FPV drones when other air defenses fail The mechanical launcher fires a snare that wraps a drone's rotors at up to 25 meters – no debris scatter.
Russia aims for 101,000 drone troops by April as the battlefield shifts to autonomous systems 19,000 FPV drones produced daily by Russian industry, Syrskyi says – Ukraine still leads in combat applications.
Belgium turns to Ukraine to build its own drone industry, citing lessons from the front line New contract with a Ukrainian company will produce drones and drone detection systems on Belgian soil.
AI data for autonomous drone development: Ukraine opens front-line combat database to international partners Fedorov frames the exchange as a win-win: partners get real battlefield data, Ukraine gets faster systems.
Russia's propaganda satellite fails—and sanctions block the fix Russkiy Mir, Moscow's TV channel built to beam state narratives into occupied Ukraine, has gone dark with no workaround: sanctions prevent it from leasing capacity on foreign satellites—an option other operators can still use.
International
"Support continues": NATO's top general assures senators Iran war won't drain Ukraine pipeline NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that arms deliveries to Ukraine are continuing despite the active military campaign against Iran — but said he would only disclose specifics in a classified session.
Ukraine and Romania to build two power lines as energy alliance deepens Ukraine and Romania will build two electricity interconnectors — one operational by year-end — after Presidents Zelenskyy and Dan signed energy, defence, and strategic partnership agreements in Bucharest.
One Oschadbank courier hospitalized after Hungarian interrogation, NBU chief says Budapest is holding $82 million in cash and gold seized from Oschadbank couriers, one of whom was hospitalized in critical condition after interrogation — and Hungary says it won't let go until Ukraine fixes a pipeline, Bloomberg reports.
Hungary keeps Oschadbank cash, returns vehicles: "We will not return the money," minister says Hungary has agreed to return two armored vehicles belonging to Ukraine's Oschadbank — but the $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kilograms of gold they were carrying will stay in Budapest, two sources familiar with the matter told European Pravda.
Germany expands Ukraine air defense funding by $231.5 mn Germany's Bundestag President Julia Klöckner told Ukrainian lawmakers Wednesday that Berlin will send $231 mn to expand Ukraine's reconnaissance drone capacity and civilian protection infrastructure.
Humanitarian and social impact
Svitolina reaches her third Indian Wells quarterfinal after Siniakova retires Elina Svitolina will face Iga Świątek in the Indian Wells quarterfinals after Karolína Siniaková retired trailing 6–1, 1–1 on the night of 11–12 March — the fifth time in five meetings the Ukrainian has come out on top.
Political and legal developments
Trump administration relaxed Russian oil sanctions. Senators say that was Moscow's gain. Temporary license allowed India to buy oil already at sea – senators question both the legality and the logic.
Russia strips African recruits of documents, sends them to Ukraine front line, EU Parliament resolution says The European Parliament voted 479–17 on 12 March to condemn Russia for recruiting thousands of African, Cuban, and Central Asian nationals under false pretenses for front-line combat duty in Ukraine, classifying the practice as human trafficking.
'He's got nothing to gain': Ex-US envoy says Putin, not Zelenskyy, is blocking a ceasefire With Russian casualties potentially reaching 1.4 million and sanctions cutting into the economy, former US special envoy Keith Kellogg says Putin still has not accepted the core condition for peace: that "he's not going to gain any more land."
Foreign companies left Russia after 2022. Moscow is now building legal framework to use their names, software, and trademarks Russia calls it "external temporary management."
US sanctions don't work: Russian tankers shipped $11 billion in oil last year. That's enough to bomb Ukrainian cities for eight months The tankers were sanctioned. They shipped oil anyway.
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