Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1492: Bombs on Baltic pipelines, boots on shadow tankers — and then Washington’s ultimatum
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Exclusives
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Russia built the world’s only missile-armed icebreaker. A Ukrainian sport plane just crippled it.. The $222 million ship never left the shipyard. |
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What holds Ukrainian labor market together if not conditions—and how long can it last?. Higher wages aren’t buying loyalty—merely time. |
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Ukraine barters with Gulf states: Patriot missiles for anti-drone capabilities. Anti-drone experts already deployed to half-dozen countries, but road for weapon transfers yet to be paved |
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Sanctioned Russian shadow fleet tanker struck by drone near Istanbul, 140,000 tons of oil on board. The ALTURA had transported millions of barrels of Russian crude to India and China before the strike. |
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Five weapons, 57 days: how Budapest escalated against Ukraine after one Russian drone strike. Kyiv’s Foreign Ministry says gas imports from Hungary haven’t stopped yet—and that Ukraine has contingency plans ready. |
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Reuters: 40% of Russia’s oil exports offline, mostly due to Ukrainian drone strikes — worst disruption in Russian history. Russia earns roughly a quarter of its state budget from oil and gas. This week’s attacks halted oil loadings at both Russian Baltic Sea terminals. |
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Russia’s unstoppable Mach-6 missile just got killed by a Ukrainian drone. After peeling back Russian air defenses in Crimea, Ukrainian drone operators are now hunting down Russia’s best missiles on the ground. |
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FPV drone strikes in Baghdad expose US vulnerability. Fortifications are no longer enough to guard against cheap, yet persistent threat |
Military
Ukrainian drones found six Russian tanks hidden in a Belgorod forest – and destroyed them before they could reach the Kharkiv border Lasar’s Group of the National Guard says six tanks and two heavy vehicles were hit in early March in a coordinated drone operation.
Ukraine’s Baltic energy blitz: KINEF refinery struck as Kyiv targets Russia’s northwestern export corridor The attack on Kirishi follows drone strikes on Ust-Luga and Primorsk in a coordinated campaign against Russia’s Baltic energy export infrastructure.
Russia strikes injure 13 people in four oblasts of Ukraine over past day Russian forces wounded 13 people across Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Donetsk oblasts on 25 March, while launching 153 strike drones overnight — 130 of which Ukraine’s air defense destroyed.
At ports and railways, first civilian air defense groups will appear in Ukraine Last night Russians killed a civilian on a commuter train in Kharkiv.
Russia’s ballistic missiles now change trajectory mid-flight. Europe needs 400% increase in air defense or face defeat Russia reduced the effectiveness of Ukraine’s Patriot interceptors, requiring more than one missile per intercept.
Intelligence and technology
Russia is now sending its own drones back to Iran – the weapons it learned to make from Tehran Western intelligence says Moscow began deliveries in early March, marking the first known transfer of Russian lethal aid to Iran since the war began.
Moldova court cases reveal Russia’s transnational network to recruit, train and deploy spies and saboteurs The man who recruited Moldovan citizens for drone training camps in the Balkans also organized the painting of Stars of David on Paris buildings in the days after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks.
Putin watched Khamenei get killed. Then disappeared from public view for nine days. Then shut down Moscow’s internet Moscow’s internet went dark after Khamenei was killed.
International
Germany won’t send Taurus missiles to Ukraine – and now Merz says Ukraine doesn’t need them anyway Berlin points to Ukraine’s domestically produced long-range systems as a reason the issue is no longer live.
“We do that all the time” – Trump says US routinely pulls weapons from Ukraine for other theaters Ukraine has repeatedly warned that reductions in air defense deliveries would directly weaken its ability to hold against Russian strikes.
NATO 2025 Annual Report warns energy infrastructure is primary target in any Russian attack on the Alliance NATO is training to defend power grids after Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure showed the Alliance what a war against it might look like.
Ukraine struggles to find more NATO donors to pay for US weapons, Bloomberg reports Only a handful of allies are currently funding US arms purchases; Kyiv estimates $15 billion needed in 2026 but received just $4.3 billion for 2025.
Britain moves from sanctions lists to tanker seizures – navy can now board Russia’s shadow fleet Around 75% of Russia’s crude exports move through the shadow fleet; the UK and allies have sanctioned more than 500 vessels.
Ukraine drafts its first Africa strategy — targeting Maghreb and sub-Saharan states as geopolitical rivals For the first time, Ukraine is moving to “comprehensively influence the situation on the African continent,” according to Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov.
US links security guarantees to Ukraine giving up Donbas, Zelenskyy says Ukraine would have to give up all of Donbas before the United States will finalize security guarantees, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Reuters interview.
Humanitarian and social impact
“You think of only one thing: is your person’s name there” — the Mariupol marine who came home after 1,400 days Marine Ruslan Kurtmallaiev defended Mariupol with the 36th Separate Brigade, was held in Russian captivity for nearly four years — over two of them in solitary — and received one letter and one phone call from his family the entire time.
Yale report ties Russian energy giants to kidnapping and military training of Ukrainian children Russian energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft transported and indoctrinated at least 2,158 Ukrainian children at camps in Russia and occupied territories between 2022 and 2025.
Political and legal developments
After four years of war, Ukraine formally tears up its last legal ties to Russia and the CIS Sybiha says 116 agreements are being terminated, denounced, or withdrawn from — a process he calls “complex and systematic.”
Read our previous daily review here.
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