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Morning Headlines
Reuters: The International Monetary Fund has raised concerns that Ukraine may be unable to tap its $8.1 billion aid as the country's lawmakers stall on measures needed to release the financing, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday citing an IMF representative.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine struck the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol overnight on March 17, sparking explosions and fires, Telegram news channel Exilenova Plus reported, citing local residents. Russian air defense systems were destroyed in the attack.
Reuters: Thailand has discussed with the Russian government the possibility of purchasing crude oil, a deputy prime minister said on Tuesday.
ISW: Ukrainian counterattacks in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast are forcing Russia to redeploy forces and means from other areas of the frontline and likely from operational level reserves.
Reuters: A Russian attack on a hydroelectric plant in southern Ukraine triggered an oil spill and polluted water systems in neighbouring Moldova, with supplies cut completely in the country's second-largest city, officials said on Monday.
More News
Reuters: Italy, France and seven other nations told the European Commission that a Russian liquefied natural gas tanker currently adrift in the Mediterranean represents an ecological threat, and they urged swift action on the issue, a letter showed on Monday.
The Guardian: Keir Starmer will host Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Tuesday as the prime minister warns US-Israeli strikes on Iran cannot be allowed to become a “windfall for Putin”.
The Insider: Between 2023 and early 2026, North Korea supplied Russia with as many as 11 million artillery shells and rockets, according to an investigation by Important Stories and Open Source Center.
The National Interest: In Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, a once diverse and free religious ecosystem is being filtered into one faith: the cult of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Guardian: Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, has been criticised for calling for the normalisation of relations with Russia to re-establish cheap energy supplies.
Politico: Hungary is pressing the European Union to suspend tariffs and extra duties on fertilizer imports from Russia and Belarus as the war in Iran threatens to drive up global food prices. Such a move would boost a key source of revenue in funding Moscow's war of aggression against Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent: Hungary accused Ukraine on March 16 of refusing to attend a trilateral meeting with Hungarian and Slovak officials on the status of the Druzhba pipeline, escalating a dispute over the damaged route that previously carried Russian crude to Central Europe.
Reuters: Hungary will continue blocking a 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia as long as oil flows via the Druzhba pipeline remain suspended, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday in Brussels.
United24 Media: Russia’s State Duma has backed a proposal to impose a special fee on Russians traveling abroad, according to The Moscow Times on March 16.
The Moscow Times: Russians withdrew more than 1.6 trillion rubles ($19.7 billion) from their bank accounts in January, Central Bank data showed, as card blocks and recurring mobile internet outages push consumers toward cash.
Reuters: The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on nine individuals it said played a role in the 2022 Bucha massacre and four individuals it said were involved with Russia’s foreign information manipulation and interference.
The Kyiv Independent: Around 300 people are currently being held in Russian captivity on politically fabricated charges in occupied Crimea, including 159 Crimean Tatars, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said on March 16.
United24 Media: Ukraine-UK developed Octopus drones could be deployed by Britain to help protect the Strait of Hormuz as London reviews options for supporting allied efforts to reopen the vital shipping lane.
Reuters: Ukraine's major steelmaker ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih will close two rolling mills, it said on Monday, citing the energy crisis caused by Russian strikes and the cost of European Union environmental requirements.
Politico: The European Union won't give in to pressure to re-engage with Russia to offset surging energy prices triggered by the war in Iran, the bloc's energy chief told reporters on Monday.
BBC: Kenya's foreign minister says Russia has agreed to stop deploying Kenyan nationals to fight in the war in Ukraine.
Reuters: Ukraine's Naftogaz, which discovered "substantial" offshore gas reserves in the Black Sea before Moscow's invasion, is in talks with Romania's OMV Petrom to form a partnership relating to the field.
The Kyiv Independent: Russian authorities in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast have sentenced a 69-year-old woman to 11 years in jail for donating to the Ukrainian army, Ukraine's Ombudsman Office said on March 15.
worth mentioning
'True friend' — Sean Penn misses Oscars to visit Ukraine, meets Zelensky in Kyiv
Germany to Trump: We won’t help you reopen the Strait of Hormuz
Russia’s long-anticipated block of messenger app Telegram has begun, experts say
Putin expands secrecy rules, allowing defense conglomerate Rostec and other state corporations to hide reporting data
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