30.03.2025

NBC News: Trump said on Sunday he was "pissed off" at Putin and will impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on buyers of Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

The Guardian: Trump is losing patience with Putin’s stalling tactics over the Ukraine ceasefire, the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, said after spending nine hours with the US president.

FT: A ceasefire in Ukraine will dramatically increase the security threat to Baltic nations, as Russia will proceed with plans to re-arm and redeploy troops to Nato’s north-eastern flank, the region’s defence ministers have warned (archive).

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian partisans have destroyed an electronic warfare system in Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast, Ukraine's military intelligence reported on March 30.

Ukrainska Pravda: Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has stated that Russia will remain a threat for as long as Putin leads it.

The Kyiv Independent: Poland is considering reinstating compulsory military service in response to escalating threats from Russia and Belarus, defense officials told the outlet Polish Radio on March 29.

ISW has recently observed intensifications in Russian offensive operations in the Lyman, Pokrovsk, and Orikhiv directions and ongoing Russian offensive operations in northern Sumy Oblast aimed at pushing Ukrainian forces from remaining positions in Kursk Oblast.

The Kyiv Independent: There was "anger," "surprise," and "panic" among the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden after Ukraine sunk the Mosvka, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, a report published by the New York Times on March 29 suggests.

29.03.2025

The Kyiv Independent: A Russian drone attack killed two civilians and injured at least 25 people late on March 29, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

The Kyiv Independent: A Russian missile attack against the city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on March 29 injured at least eight people, Governor Serhii Lysak reported.

AP News: Russian forces are preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in the coming weeks to maximize pressure on Ukraine and strengthen the Kremlin’s negotiating position in ceasefire talks, Ukrainian government and military analysts said.

Bloomberg: Ukraine will ask for changes to a sweeping new economic deal proposed by Trump, including a pledge for more US investment (archive).

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian manufacturers have the capacity to produce over 5 million first-person-view drones per year, presidential advisor Alexander Kamyshin said.

NY Post: An American businessman is urging Trump to help save his $200 million canned-food empire after Russian authorities took over his company and seized its assets.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine's Air Force struck the Pogar border checkpoint in Russia's Bryansk Oblast on March 27, destroying its military infrastructure and killing dozens of Russian troops, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on March 28.

ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin remains committed to its goal to prolong any negotiations for a temporary ceasefire in order to continue making incremental gains on the battlefield and establish favorable conditions to pursue Ukraine's complete capitulation.

28.03.2025

The Kyiv Independent: A Russian drone attack on March 28 killed four people and injured at least 24 in the city of Dnipro, sparking a large fire at a hotel and restaurant complex as well as 11 private residences.

Reuters: The International Monetary Fund said on Friday its board completed a review that would enable disbursing $400 million to Ukraine to be channeled for budget support.

FT: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine has reached new deals with several European allies to deepen intelligence co-operation as he rejected Trump’s latest proposal to take control of Ukrainian assets (archive).

Bloomberg: The Kremlin has a deliberate strategy to test how far Trump is willing to go in pressing Europe to ease sanctions... The purpose in picking Russian Agricultural Bank was to see if Trump would firstly engage with the idea and then whether he could bring the European Union on board (archive).

Reuters: Just as Ukrainian forces are losing their grip on the pocket of Russia's Kursk region they captured last year, they have staged a little-publicised incursion into the adjacent Belgorod region. Several Russian military correspondents said on Friday that Ukrainian troops were inside Belgorod and fighting battles with Russian forces there.

The Kyiv Independent: The U.S. government has not restored funding for a program documenting Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a press conference on March 28.

The Moscow Times: Talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia earlier this week failed to make significant progress in Ukraine peace negotiations, which may drag into next year, Russian negotiator Grigory Karasin said Friday.

The Korea Times: Major South Korean companies are taking steps to resume business in Russia as Ukraine ceasefire negotiations raise the possibility of sanctions relief.

The Kyiv Independent: Russia has intensified assault operations in the Zaporizhzhia sector, increasing pressure on Ukraine's southern positions, Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn said on March 28.

Reuters: A Russian drone attack has damaged warehouses owned by Ukraine's state gas producer in the central region of Poltava during a truce on energy strikes, officials said on Friday, while the company said its gas production facilities had been damaged.

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