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Morning Headlines

The Insider: A whistleblower from the Global Health Incident Cell, the secret CIA unit that investigated Havana Syndrome, says he believes the Russian intelligence services are behind directed energy attacks on Americans.

Reuters: Oil prices surged more than 25% on Monday to their highest levels since mid-2022 as some major producers cut supplies and fears of prolonged shipping disruptions gripped the market due to the expanding U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

The Kyiv Independent: Slovakia will "take up the baton from Hungary" and block European Union funds to Ukraine if Hungarian PM Orban loses the upcoming election, Slovak PM Fico said in a video address on March 8.

08.03.2026

Reuters: Trump administration officials on Sunday defended a decision to temporarily lift some sanctions on Russian oil ‌and predicted that a sharp increase in gasoline prices resulting from the Iran war would last only weeks.

Euronews: Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar has called on Russia to stop interfering in Hungary's April parliamentary elections, following a report exposing an alleged Kremlin team operating from Budapest's Russian embassy to keep Viktor Orbán in power.

The Kyiv Independent: A drone that struck a U.K. air base in Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus on March 1 contained Russian technology, the Times reported.

The Moscow Times: Sweden has detained a crew member of a Russian "shadow fleet" cargo ship it seized on Friday off its coast on suspicion of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain, the Coast Guard said Sunday.

Reuters: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten ​discussed joint arms production during his visit to Kyiv on ‌Sunday, and he stressed Ukraine's unique experience in defending against Iranian-made drones used by Russia.

RBC-Ukraine: Ukraine's Defense Forces struck a Russian combat boat, a Pantsir-S1 air defense missile and gun system, and several enemy command posts, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

United24 Media: Russia has deployed aerostats equipped with surveillance equipment to monitor strategic energy infrastructure in northeastern Estonia near the NATO border, according to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation.

Reuters: Slovak PM Fico said on Sunday he ‌would meet with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday, as Slovakia and Hungary ramp up pressure on Ukraine to restart Russian oil flows, warning Slovakia could block a major EU ​loan to Kyiv.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank said on March 7 that it will pursue legal action to recover bank property still held in Hungary after the recent detention of its employees and armored vehicles.

ISW: Russia is likely trying to further exhaust Ukraine’s limited Patriot interceptors and exploit their shortages, hoping that the United States will be unwilling or unable to provide Ukraine with more interceptors as the US-Israeli campaign continues in the Middle East.

07.03.2026

The Kyiv Independent: The U.S. is supplying Ukraine-tested anti-drone systems to partners in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 7, highlighting growing international demand for Kyiv’s battlefield-proven technology capable of countering Iranian drone attacks.

Politico: A German logistics firm exploits gaps in European law to ship contraband to Russia. POLITICO followed their illicit route from a Berlin supermarket to Moscow.

The Kyiv Independent: A Russia-linked disinformation campaign has circulated artificial intelligence-generated images depicting the detention of Ukrainian bank employees by Hungarian authorities, according to fact-checking outlet Vastagbor.

United24 Media: Units of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in coordination with the broader Armed Forces, have successfully neutralized a Russian offensive in the Zaporizhzhia sector. A comprehensive three-month defensive operation has stabilized the front line and effectively prevented Russian forces from advancing toward the regional capital.

The Kyiv Independent: Russian troops struck a five-story building in the city of Kharkiv with a ballistic missile overnight on March 7, killing 11 people, including two children, and injuring at least 15, local authorities reported.

Reuters: Ukrainian manufacturers of cheap interceptor drones designed to knock out enemy unmanned aerial vehicles say they have the capacity to export in large volumes, amid enquiries from the United ​States and Middle East prompted by the Iran war.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian forces targeted a Russian site used for the storage, preparation, and launch of Shahed-type drones with Western long-range missiles near the airport in occupied Donetsk, the General Staff reported on March 7.

The Moscow Times: India said Saturday that it would continue importing Russian oil after the United States temporarily granted a sanctions waiver that allows for oil shipments currently stranded at sea to be sold to Indian buyers.

The Kyiv Independent: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on March 6 that Washington is considering lifting some sanctions on Russian oil to address a global supply shortage linked to recent military operations in Iran.

Reuters: Britain disclosed on Saturday that it had four facilities operating in Ukraine to carry out repair and maintenance work for armoured ‌vehicles and other military equipment being used in the war with Russia.

06.03.2026

NBC News: Russia is providing intelligence to Iran on the location of U.S. forces in the Middle East, a boost for Tehran as it launches missile and drone attacks on American bases and other targets in the region.

The Insider: The Kremlin-linked Matryoshka disinformation network has launched a campaign targeting German voters ahead of the upcoming regional elections in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

Novaya-Europe: French fashion house Dior is planning to reopen two of its stores in Moscow by 2028, Russian business daily Kommersant reported on Friday, citing financial statements published by the brand’s Russian legal entity.

United24 Media: An Estonian court has found Russian entrepreneur Ivan Anchevsky guilty of violating European Union sanctions and sentenced him to three years and six months in prison.

BBC: Russia's military intelligence service is suspected to be behind a series of parcel fires that targeted the UK and Europe, investigators have said.

Reuters: Russia is expanding military units at the border with NATO, giving them battle experience in Ukraine, and could ‌use them as hubs in a conflict with NATO after the war, Lithuanian intelligence said on Friday in its annual assessment of security threats.

United24 Media: Russian forces have allegedly abducted 19 civilians from a village in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region and taken them across the border into Russia, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on March 6.

BBC: Russian soldiers injured in the war with Ukraine will be allowed to compete at future Paralympic Games, says International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian drones struck an aircraft repair plant and two Russian Pantsir-S2 air defense systems overnight in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, the Security Service of Ukraine said.

Reuters: Slovakia's national gas company, SPP, has ‌amended its long-term contract with Gazprom to align it with European regulations and continue to import Russian gas, it said on Friday, after talks that sources said were intended to raise volumes before an EU ban on Russian gas kicks in late next year.

United24 Media: Russia is demanding that Ukrainian Prisoners of War from the Zakarpattia region record propaganda videos praising the aggressor state as a prerequisite for their transfer to Hungary.

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