United 24 Media:
πΉ Ukraine will train Persian Gulf countries to shoot down drones. The first group of Ukrainian experts and military personnel will depart there tomorrow. Several such groups are expected to follow, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The president also reported that these countries are interested in purchasing interceptor drones. In the future, Ukraine is ready to sell them, provided that the drones are surplus to the needs of the Ukrainian military.
πΈ βOn Tuesday I will meet with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Slovakia is ready to take over from Hungary and block β¬90 billion in loans to Ukraine if oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline are not restored. Blocking this huge military gift to Ukraine is a legitimate way to restore oil transit,β Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
πΉ Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten arrived in Kyiv.
Together with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Jetten honored fallen Ukrainian defenders at the Wall of Remembrance.
π€¬ Russia has changed its strike tactics to deplete Patriot missile stockpiles in Ukraine, according to ISW.
Russia has begun using ballistic missiles more frequently in its attacks on Ukraine, likely in an attempt to exhaust Ukraineβs stock of Patriot interceptors, analysts say.
ISW notes that during the March 6β7 strikes, about half of the missiles launched were ballistic. Russia usually rarely fires more than 10 such missiles in a single strike and typically uses them in more targeted attacks.
According to analysts, Moscow is trying to take advantage of Ukraineβs limited stockpiles of PAC-3 interceptors, as well as the fact that the United States and Gulf states are actively using Patriot missiles in the Middle East to defend against Iranian attacks.
In this way, Russia hopes to accelerate the depletion of Ukrainian air defenses and complicate Ukraineβs ability to obtain new interceptors from its partners.
π‘ Ukrainian para-biathlete Oleksandra Kononova received remarks from representatives of the International Paralympic Committee because of earrings with the inscription βStop Warβ that she wore during the race.
βThey said that the regulations do not allow the inscription βStop Warβ on earrings, although I competed wearing them. I feel comfortable, because I was prepared for the fact that they would make remarks. This is my state of mind when I wear patriotic earrings, clothes, my uniform, or the flag. It means a lot to me β I live for this, I work for this. This is what inspires me in sports: my country, the anthem, the flag. Everything connected with this is with me,β Kononova said in a comment to Suspilne Sport.Ρ
π³π± The Netherlands will provide Ukraine with about β¬3 billion in aid each year, President Zelenskyy said.
He added that the Netherlands is also investing in the PURL program, which makes it possible to purchase air defense missiles, and is producing weapons jointly with Ukraine.
πΈ China is scaling back its joint Arctic projects with Russia, according to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
βAlthough the total volume of Chinese foreign investment under the Belt and Road Initiative continues to grow, the Arctic direction is losing priority due to high risks, complex logistics, and geopolitical tensions.
Five of the six joint projects were approved before 2022. One of them has already been closed due to implementation problems, and no new large-scale initiatives are emerging.
Sanctions imposed over Russiaβs aggression against Ukraine, restrictions on access to technology, and international insurance limitations sharply increase the risks for any major project.
In such conditions, pragmatic Beijing is in no hurry to increase investments in the economy of a country that is internationally isolated.β
πΉ British military intelligence has confirmed that the Shahed drones that attacked a base in Cyprus on March 1 contained Russian components, The Times reports.
Among them is the Comet-B navigation module, which was first found in drones intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses in December.
The seized components have been sent to a laboratory in the United Kingdom for further investigation.
The drone was likely launched by the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
βRussia is helping the Iranian regime. We understand what exactly has already been provided, although we do not know the volume of what they are ready to transfer,β President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten.
πΈ G7 countries will discuss the possible use of emergency oil reserves amid soaring oil prices, the Financial Times reports.
According to the publication, G7 finance ministers will hold an emergency meeting today to consider releasing oil from strategic reserves managed by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Created in 1974, the IEA system holds reserves that can cover almost one month of total oil demand among its 32 member countries and more than 140 days of net imports.
During the meeting, the ministers will also speak with IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol to discuss the impact of the war in Iran on global energy markets.
According to sources familiar with the talks, three G7 countries β including the United States β have already supported the idea. One source said some US officials consider it appropriate to release about 25β30% of the 1.2 billion barrels stored in the reserves.
The discussion comes as pressure grows on Donald Trump to address the sharp rise in oil prices. The average price of gasoline in the United States rose to $3.45 per gallon by Sunday, up from $2.98 a week earlier, and could continue to increase, the FT reports.
The recent surge in oil prices threatens to trigger a new wave of inflation that could slow economic growth worldwide. Major oil-importing countries such as China, India, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, and Spain are considered particularly vulnerable to price shocks.
π‘ βRussia took the lives of 346 artists.β Ukraine calls on Venice Biennale organizers not to allow Russiaβs return.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy of Ukraine and Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna officially called on the organizers of the Venice Biennale to reconsider the decision to allow Russia to participate in the 2026 exhibition.
The Ukrainian side emphasized that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russian aggression has taken the lives of 346 artists and more than 130 media workers, while the number of destroyed cultural heritage sites has exceeded 1,700.
Ukraine also stressed that Russia openly uses culture as a tool of political influence. As an example, the ministers cited a statement by the director of the Hermitage Museum, Mikhail Piotrovsky, who once called Russian cultural projects abroad a βspecial operation.β
According to the joint statement, this confirms that Russiaβs cultural presence often serves as part of a broader state policy aimed at legitimizing aggression. In this context, the participation of Russian representatives in international art events is unacceptable.
The Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale is currently planned to reopen in May 2026 β the first time since the start of the full-scale invasion.
π― Emergency and rescue operations at the site of the Russian strike on March 7 in Kharkiv have been completed. As of now, 11 people have been confirmed killed, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
βWe will be able to say more precisely after the examinations. My condolences to the relatives and friends of all those who died. Kharkiv is in mourning,β he added.