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Morning Headlines
Politico: Foreign intelligence services like those of Russia or Iran are increasingly recruiting ordinary European citizens to carry out espionage and sabotage, according to Youssef Ait Daoud, director of intelligence and national threats at the Netherlands’ National Investigations and Special Operations unit.
The Kyiv Independent: An overnight drone attack on Krasnodar killed one person after a drone struck an apartment in a multi-story residential building, Mayor Evgeny Filipov said on March 18.
More News
Reuters: Russia has been expanding its intelligence sharing and military cooperation with Iran, providing satellite imagery and improved drone technology to aid Tehran’s targeting of U.S. forces in the region, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine has deployed 201 specialists experienced in countering Iranian-made Shahed-type attack drones to the Middle East and Gulf region, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on March 17.
Politico: The EU on Tuesday pressed ahead with the steps needed to get Ukraine and Moldova into the bloc, despite Hungary’s efforts to prevent further enlargement.
Reuters: Ukraine accepted the European Union's offer of technical support and funding to restore oil flows through the damaged Druzhba pipeline on Tuesday but also signalled any resumption of Russian crude deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia was still weeks away.
The Guardian: UK officials are preparing for a possible court case against Roman Abramovich after he missed a deadline to release £2.4bn he raised from selling Chelsea FC.
Politico: A Trump administration official, granted anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said finding a “way to align closer with Russia” could create “a different power balance with China that could be very, very beneficial.”
The Kyiv Independent: Russian authorities aim to relocate nearly 114,000 citizens to occupied Ukrainian territories by 2045, pro-Kremlin publication Vedomosti reported on March 17, citing government plans for the development of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts.
United24 Media: Moldova’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russia’s ambassador to Chișinău and handed him a protest note along with a bottle of contaminated water collected from the Dniester River, following pollution caused by a recent Russian strike on Ukrainian infrastructure.
The Moscow Times: Russia has quietly stepped up its intelligence operations in Vienna, taking advantage of legal loopholes and Austria’s neutrality to expand what Western officials describe as one of its largest covert signals intelligence platforms in the West, the Financial Times reported.
The Kyiv Independent: President Volodymyr Zelensky said Iran misled Ukraine about its military support for Russia, downplaying early shipments of armed drones that were later used extensively in attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Reuters: Celebrated Russian ballerina Svetlana Zakharova has been excluded from a dance gala beginning in Rome this month, organisers said, in the latest political dispute over the participation of Russian artists in cultural events in Italy.
NY Post: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told The Post on Monday that Ukraine is ready to help President Trump counter Iran’s growing drone threat — even as other US partners hesitate.
Reuters: Indonesia is looking to purchase oil from Russia to meet its domestic supply needs, local media reported on Tuesday, citing the energy minister.
Ukrinform: Ukraine is gradually shifting the war onto Russian territory, and air raid alert sirens are already blaring across the Russian Federation. Recently, more than 250 aerial targets were detected in the Moscow area, all aimed at the aggressor country’s military infrastructure.
Reuters: A senior Russian security official warned on Tuesday that the pace and development of Ukrainian drone production meant that no Russian region was safe from attack.
Kyiv Post: Russian strikes hit a Nova Poshta terminal in Zaporizhzhia, wounding eight, while drone attacks killed two in Sumy and damaged infrastructure in Odesa.
Reuters: Britain, Finland and the Netherlands are looking at teaming up to jointly finance and procure weapons, munitions and military equipment, given the increasing threat level across the world, with war in Ukraine and in the Middle East.
Britain and Ukraine will agree to work together to sell drone technology abroad during a visit on Tuesday by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, meant to reinforce support for Kyiv when surging oil prices from war in Iran have been a boon for Moscow.
Reuters: European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas pushed back on Tuesday against a call by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever to normalise relations with Moscow and regain access to cheap Russian energy.
Reuters: Chinese state oil majors looking to head off supply shortages caused by the war in the Middle East have resumed seeking Russian crude cargoes after a four-month hiatus, taking advantage of a U.S. sanctions waiver.
worth mentioning
Street detentions, car seizures, pressure — Russia intensifies conscription of Ukrainians in occupied territories
Ukraine to test French-Italian alternative to US Patriot missiles
Russia using Iran war as proganda weapon against Ukraine
Russia's Novosibirsk region declares cattle disease emergency as culls spark farmer protests
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