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Morning Headlines
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian drones struck a major oil terminal, leaving fires in the southern Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight on March 2, Telegram news channel Astra reported.
Reuters: Russia's manufacturing sector continued to contract in February, but the pace of decline eased for the second consecutive month as new orders stabilised, S&P Global reported on Monday.
01.03.2026
The Kyiv Independent: The expanding war in the Middle East highlights the importants of Ukraine's expertise in air defense — particularly in shooting down Iranian drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on March 1. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced later in the day that Ukrainian experts would provide expert guidance on intercepting Iranian drones.
The Moscow Times: Russia fired more missiles on Ukraine in February than in any other month since at least the beginning of 2023 in overnight strikes, targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure in particular, an AFP analysis showed Sunday.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian forces struck radar stations of an S-300 air defense system and an S-300V4 complex in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk Oblast overnight on March 1, among other military targets, Ukraine's General Staff said.
France 24: Belgium's special forces boarded and seized an oil tanker from the "shadow fleet" Russia uses to circumvent Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, in an overnight operation announced Sunday.
Reuters: Russia said at recent talks in Geneva it would accept the U.S. proposal for Ukraine's post-war security guarantees, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff said on Saturday.
The Guardian: Ministers are reviewing a decision to allow a British company to export hi-tech equipment to Armenia after the Guardian uncovered links to the Russian military supply chain.
28.02.2026
Reuters: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that the time and place of the next round of peace talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine would depend on the security situation in the Middle East and the level of "real diplomatic possibilities".
United24 Media: Russia has launched a large-scale recruitment campaign targeting teenagers as young as 14 to work at the “Alabuga” Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan, where Iranian-designed Shahed-136 attack drones are manufactured.
Reuters: The German government has placed the German units of Russia's Rosneft under a trusteeship, the economy ministry said on Saturday, as Berlin seeks to establish long-term control over the German assets of the Russian oil group.
Sky News: As Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, Sky News has partnered with Voices of Children, a Ukrainian charity, to tell the stories of teenagers living through war. They speak of a childhood stolen, and the pain left behind by losses and sacrifices.
Ukrainska Pravda: Russia is likely to leave peace talks if Ukraine does not agree to withdraw its troops from the whole of Donbas.
The Guardian: Denmark’s intelligence services have warned that a foreign power may try to sway the general election on 24 March, saying the main threat was from Russia over support for Ukraine but also citing the chaos caused by US efforts to seize Greenland.
The Kyiv Independent: An oil refinery in the village of Novominskaya in Russia's Krasnodar Krai caught fire on Feb. 28 following a drone attack, according to the Krasnodar Krai Operational Headquarters.
ISW: Russian forces have likely begun artillery and drone preparation of the battlefield for the anticipated Russian Spring-Summer 2026 offensive against Ukraine’s Fortress Belt in Donetsk Oblast.
27.02.2026
Reuters: A week before the Paralympics open in Verona, a growing list of countries plans to skip the ceremony in protest at the inclusion of Russian athletes under their own flag, an escalating boycott that threatens to overshadow the start of the Games.
The Insider: Meet the Pentagon contractor openly offering advice to Russian sniper rifle manufacturers. Konstantin Konev, the Director of Engineering at LMT Defense, publicly advises Russian firearms manufacturers on the design and improvement of their small arms.
Reuters: Italy's UniCredit in January withdrew an appeal lodged with the European Union General Court against a European Central Bank request that it exit Russia, a document published on Friday showed.
The Independent: Rishi Sunak has taken up a role as one of several international advisers helping the Ukrainian government with economic renewal. Documents released on Friday by the independent adviser on ministerial standards revealed the former prime minister has begun an unpaid role as part of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s International Advisory Council for the Economic Renewal of Ukraine.
The Moscow Times: Russian police have arrested Alexei Kostylev, the founder and former editor-in-chief of the pro-Kremlin news outlet Readovka, on charges of fraud, RBC reported on Friday.
ERR: In stark contrast to Russian expectations of a walkover in February 2022, the full-scale invasion, the largest conflict in Europe since World War II, has turned out to be one of the slowest-moving military campaigns in history, the Estonian Defence Forces Intelligence Center said.
Euronews: Zelenskyy has invited the Slovak PM to Kyiv to discuss 'all issues' after a week of tensions over the Druzhba pipeline. Earlier, Hungary and Slovakia demanded access from Kyiv to inspect the grounds of the pipeline.
BBC: At least 55 Ghanaians have been killed fighting in the war in Ukraine, with two others currently held as prisoners of war, Ghana's foreign affairs minister says.
Reuters: Ukraine is considering forming consortia with its allies to build air defences capable of downing ballistic missiles and overcome a critical deficit of munitions for U.S.-made Patriot systems, its defence minister said.
The Moscow Times: Russia’s car market has posted its weakest start to a year in two decades, a senior executive at carmaker AvtoVAZ said, underscoring mounting pressure on consumer demand despite manufacturers ramping up production plans.
United24 Media: Satellite intelligence has indicateed that Russia is constructing a multi-tiered air defense and electronic warfare umbrella around the Krychaw military airfield in Belarus, heavily fortifying the suspected deployment site of the Oreshnik ballistic missile system.
Delfi: Lithuania and eight other European Union countries on Thursday signed a declaration in Brussels establishing the EastInvest Facility, aimed at helping states bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine mobilise EU funds in five priority areas to strengthen security and resilience.
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