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Morning Headlines
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in the Russian city of Ufa in the early hours of April 2, independent media reported.
ISW: Russia’s new tactic of prolonged nighttime and daytime strikes reflects aspects of the way Iran is currently launching drone and missile salvos at Israel and the Gulf.
The Kyiv Independent: The Ukrainian military on April 1 denied Russia's claim that its troops have fully taken control of Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.
More News
The Kyiv Independent: Trump threatened to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine unless European countries joined a U.S. military effor to open the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported on April 1.
Reuters: Ukraine's military struck a Russian missile components production plant in the Bryansk region, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Wednesday.
Politico: Bulgaria has asked the European Union for help to fight off interference from Russia ahead of its election later this month, according to correspondence reviewed by POLITICO.
Ireland is providing €65m this year to respond to the war in Ukraine, providing humanitarian aid and long-term development for people.
France 24: Russia urged France on Wednesday to release Anna Novikova, a Russian-French national detained last year on suspicion of espionage.
Reuters: Italian senators have proposed a plan to incentivise fishing companies that donate discarded nets to help shield Ukraine from Russian drone attacks, a document showed on Wednesday.
Euronews: The European Commission is laying the technical and legal groundwork to make the first payment to Ukraine under the €90 billion loan as soon as Hungary lifts its veto, hoping to shield the country's war-battered budget from painful cuts.
EU: Ukraine will receive €1.4 billion from windfall profits generated by Russian Central Bank assets frozen under EU sanctions.
The Kyiv Independent: Russia has launched a mass daytime drone attack on Ukraine's western and central oblasts, killing at least four and injuring nine others, local authorities and media said on April 1.
Reuters: Russia said on Wednesday it would kick out a Dutch journalist in response to what it called the expulsion of a correspondent of Russian state news agency RIA from the Netherlands. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had decided to revoke the Dutch journalist's accreditation and residence permit. She did not name their media organisation.
Reuters: Oil and LNG shipments from Russia's Baltic export hubs of Primorsk and Ust-Luga were at a halt on Wednesday, more than a week after Ukrainian drone attacks on them began, Finland's Border Guard, which monitors the region's marine traffic, said.
Reuters: The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy should have taken the difficult decision to withdraw his forces from the Donbas area "yesterday" in order to end what it called the "hot phase" of the war.
The Kyiv Independent: Vessels of Russia's shadow fleet are using Starlink to communicate and coordinate, an investigation has revealed.
Novaya-Europe: Russia’s national debt rose by a staggering 21% in 2025, jumping by over €65 billion to reach almost €375 billion, according to an interim report prepared by the Accounts Chamber of Russia.
Reuters: Ukrainian drone manufacturers are meeting Romanian defence ministry and army officials in the capital Bucharest this week to discuss potential joint production under a new European Union rearmament funding mechanism.
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