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Morning Headlines
Ukraine: The International Monetary Fund transferred the first tranche of USD 1.5 billion to Ukraine under the new four-year program within the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement. This was announced by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
Reuters: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that Russia's military had failed to achieve aims it set out last year and would have difficulty fulfilling advances he said Moscow hoped to achieve. Zelenskiy, addressing journalists in Kyiv, said Moscow's plans of seizing all of eastern Ukraine and areas further south remained unchanged.
ISW: It is unlikely that Iran can successfully and indefinitely impose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz long enough for Russia to reap long-term benefits from the current surge in oil prices.
More News
Reuters: Russia's Sheskharis oil terminal suspended oil loadings on Monday following a Ukrainian drone attack that injured five, damaged 20 buildings and set a fuel terminal on fire, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials and three trade sources.
Ukrainska Pravda: Valerii Sushkevych, President of the National Paralympic Committee of Ukraine, has reported that the International Paralympic Committee banned Ukrainian athletes from wearing a kit featuring a map of Ukraine at the 2026 Winter Paralympics.
United24 Media: The United States may be four to six years away from deploying a truly effective battlefield laser, but Ukraine could achieve it within one to two years, retired US Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said in an interview with Babel on March 2.
Reuters: Ukrainian troops have retaken nine settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region since the end of January and are pressing ahead with a counterattack along the southeastern frontline, the Ukrainian general staff said on Monday.
The Moscow Times: Russian strikes have killed at least eight people in Ukraine including during an attack on a civilian passenger train, Ukrainian authorities said Monday.
Reuters: A protracted crisis in Russia's rail industry - driven by the slowing economy, sanctions and global market pressures - deepened in February, adding strain to the debt-laden state rail monopoly.
United24 Media: Russian forces are reportedly coming under attack from HX-2 strike drones developed by defense technology company Helsing, marking what appears to be the combat debut of the new AI-enabled loitering munition on several sectors of the front.
Reuters: A new round of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, scheduled for week, has not been canceled following the weekend strikes on Iran by the U.S. and Israel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday.
Reuters: Ukraine will complete the technical work needed to open negotiations on all topics for its European Union accession process within days, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday.
The Kyiv Independent: Around 70% of Ukrainians don't believe that the ongoing negotiations between Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia will result in lasting peace, according to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published on March 2.
Kyiv Post: The HUR has published a technical breakdown of Russia’s Izdeliye-30 cruise missile, which – despite international sanctions against Russia – contains components from the US, China, and even Europe.
RFI: Police arrested four Greenpeace activists on Monday for blocking a cargo ship in France that they alleged was transporting uranium from Russia for the country's nuclear power plants.
DW: A German expert on sanctions policies told DW that the delivery of military-relevant components to Russia from Germany along indirect routes has decreased since 2022. Increasingly, he said, these shipments were being made directly, via criminal dummy companies in Germany that buy the goods from manufacturers and supply them to Russia illegally.
Reuters: Former Yukos investors can seek to enforce an arbitration award against Russia now worth more than $65 billion over the seizure of the defunct oil group, London's High Court ruled on Monday.
The Moscow Times: Oil prices jumped sharply on Monday after the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran, stoking fears of supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz and raising the prospect of higher energy revenues for Russia.
worth mentioning
Macron says France will allow temporary deployment of nuclear-armed jets to European allies
Budapest summons Ukrainian envoy to protest at conscription of two ethnic Hungarians
Chechen businessman and ex-senator Umar Dzhabrailov found dead in apparent suicide
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