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Morning Headlines
Reuters: Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, early on Thursday, injuring at least 10 people and damaging residential buildings and industrial facilities, city officials said, although air defences downed all the missiles.
FT: Officials in Brussels and other European capitals are warning that more vigilance and tougher penalties for online platforms will be needed to counter Russia’s disinformation campaigns designed to weaken support for Ukraine and interfere with EU-wide elections in June (archive).
The Guardian: EU leaders are to meet in Brussels to discuss ways to radically increase military and financial support for Ukraine amid calls for member states to put their economies “on a war footing”.
ISW: Several Russian financial, economic, and military indicators suggest that Russia is preparing for a large-scale conventional conflict with NATO, not imminently but likely on a shorter timeline than what some Western analysts have initially posited.
ERR: The Riigikogu on Wednesday approved the termination of the legal assistance agreement between Estonia and Russia, citing the latter's ongoing military aggression against Ukraine.
More News
Reuters: The European Commission proposed on Wednesday transferring to Ukraine profits of 2.5 to 3 billion euros per year generated by Russian central bank assets frozen in Europe after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. 90% will be channelled through the European Peace Facility fund to buy weapons for Ukraine. The rest will be used for recovery and reconstruction.
POLITICO: The idea of making some Ukraine aid into a loan is gaining traction within the GOP — but not with Mitch McConnell. "We don't have the time" to further debate alternative approaches, he said today, pointing to the Senate's already-passed foreign-aid bill.
Reuters: The Netherlands is providing Ukraine with 350 million euros for F-16 fighter jet ammunition and advanced reconnaissance drones, Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced in Kyiv on Wednesday.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine's Parliamentary Committee on Regional Development adopted a decision to rename five cities and 104 villages that were given Russian or Soviet names, lawmaker Roman Lozynskyi announced on social media on March 20.
POLITICO: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed on Wednesday that Berlin and its European allies would remain steadfast in their support of Ukraine even as members of his own coalition government fight bitterly over military aid for the embattled country.
US Treasury imposed sanctions on two people and two entities for providing services to Russia’s government in connection with a foreign malign influence campaign, including attempting to impersonate legitimate media outlets.
Reuters: A Russian missile hit an industrial area in Ukraine's northern city of Kharkiv on Wednesday, killing at least five people and injuring eight while causing a major fire in a printing house, local authorities said.
PACE President opposes participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes at Olympics in Paris.
Reuters: U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Wednesday she encourages the U.S. Congress to ban uranium supplies from Russia, as doing so would free up funds to support domestic development of fuel for next generation nuclear reactors.
The Kyiv Independent: Lithuania had pledged 35 million euros for the Czech initiative to buy artillery shells for Ukraine, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on March 20.
Reuters: Russian online bank Tinkoff may take on Rosbank's retail client base as part of proposed integration that could strengthen billionaire Vladimir Potanin's foothold in Russia's banking sector.
European Commission has disbursed the first €4.5 billion of support under the new €50 billion Ukraine Facility.
Reuters: Russia is illegally consolidating its control over occupied Ukrainian territory by creating a "climate of fear" with practices such as arbitrary detention, killings and torture, the head of a U.N. reporting mission in Ukraine told Reuters.
POLITICO: European ambassadors failed Wednesday to endorse a decision on extending trade liberalization measures for Ukraine for another year, threatening to mar a summit at which leaders want to renew pledges of political, military and economic support to Kyiv. EU ambassadors were supposed to approve a provisional deal struck between institutions overnight.
Reuters: The United States is pressing Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International, the biggest Western bank in Russia, to drop plans to buy a 1.5 billion euro industrial stake of a Russian tycoon, several people with direct knowledge of the talks said.
Reuters: Ukrainian drones operated by the GUR military intelligence agency attacked the Engels air base deep inside Russian territory early on Wednesday and Kyiv was assessing the damage, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters.
Reuters: Foreign companies leaving Russia have made exit contributions to the Russian budget of 35.7 billion roubles ($385 million) so far this year, online budget data showed, already surpassing full-year expectations.
WSJ: Russia seized over 400 commercial jets at the start of the Ukraine war. Now the owners and insurers are battling over who pays for them (archive).
worth mentioning
Meduza breaks down the evidence pointing to the most fraudulent elections in modern Russian history
Russia’s Belgorod region is under attack again from Ukraine. Why does it keep getting targeted?
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