[Korrespondent] 22.55 The US is offering Kyiv its security guarantees in exchange for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the unoccupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with Reuters.
"The US has conditioned its offer of security guarantees necessary for a peace agreement in Ukraine on Kyiv's transfer of the entire eastern region of the country, Donbas, to the Russian Federation," Zelensky said.
According to him, as the United States is currently focused on its own conflict with Iran, President Donald Trump is putting pressure on Ukraine, trying to quickly end the four-year war that began with the invasion of Russian troops in 2022.
"The Middle East certainly influences President Trump, and I think his next steps. President Trump, unfortunately, in my opinion, is still choosing a strategy of increasing pressure on the Ukrainian side," the president noted.
21.25 The Russians are preparing an operation against water supply systems in the coming months. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an address on March 25. He reported that he had held a regional selector after the Russian strikes and stressed the need to strengthen the protection of water supply systems and air defense.
"We know that the Russians are preparing an operation against water supply systems in the coming months, and every community must have a serious attitude, an absolutely responsible attitude towards protecting the relevant facilities," Zelenskyy said.
20.29 On March 25, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the chargé d'affaires of the Russian embassy and handed over a note of protest over a Ukrainian drone that violated the country's airspace. The press service of the department reported this .
The Latvian side expressed a categorical protest and emphasized that Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine creates unpredictable security risks in the region.
19.47 On March 24, Ukraine repelled the largest daytime air attack in the entire period of the full-scale war. Despite the record number of weapons, air defense soldiers repelled the attack and destroyed more than 94% of the launched targets. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense. It is noted that this attack was preceded by a combined enemy air strike using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and strike drones. In total, 999 "Shahed" drones were used during the day. About 250 drones were used within the Kyiv region alone. A year ago, this number of drones was used for a massive attack throughout the territory of Ukraine.
19.01 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with SBU soldiers on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the establishment of the Security Service of Ukraine, congratulated them on the holiday and awarded them with state awards: the Cross of Military Merit, the Orders of Merit of the 3rd degree, Bohdan Khmelnytsky of the 1st-2nd degrees, For Courage of the 1st-2nd degrees, Princess Olga of the 2nd degree, and the Medal for a Life Saved. This was reported on the president's website on March 25.
18.36 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has responded to a drone strike on the central part of Lviv, which is included in the World Heritage List. This is stated in a statement from UNESCO.
UNESCO expressed "deep concern" over the March 24 attacks on a building near the Bernardine Monastery in Lviv.
The message recalled that cultural property is protected by the 1954 Hague Convention and the 1972 World Heritage Convention.
18.25 As of March 25, 2,058 children have been returned to Ukraine. 38 countries, as well as the Council of Europe and the European Union, are actively supporting the return of deported Ukrainian children. This was reported by the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine's Commissioner for Human Rights at the request of Ukrinform.
17.59 A deputy of the Kupyansk District Council was sentenced to seven years in prison for collaborationist activities and organizing the illegal deportation of Ukrainians to the Russian Federation. The Prosecutor General's Office reports this .
Prosecutors proved that in the summer of 2022, during the occupation of Kupyansk, the deputy voluntarily defected to the Russian Federation. Using his own passenger transportation business, he provided logistics for the implementation of the occupation administration's plans.
He determined routes through the closed Dovzhanskyi checkpoint , provided four buses and drivers, and organized the evacuation of 214 Ukrainian citizens to the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation. Most of them were children.
17.57 Ukraine and NATO have launched a competition that involves the creation of joint defense projects, each of which will receive one million euros in funding. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
It is noted that the first competition within the UNITE - BRAVE NATO program involves the creation of joint defense solutions between Ukrainian companies and companies from the Alliance countries, the announcement of the winners is scheduled for the summer
17.40 The two largest Russian ports, Ust-Luga and Primorsk on the Baltic Sea, have stopped shipping oil and petroleum products due to attacks by Ukrainian drones, Reuters reports, citing informed sources.
17.24 No errors were found during the examination that confirmed the death of serviceman Nazar Daletsky . This was reported by the State Scientific Research Expert and Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
Forensic molecular genetic examination was conducted by specialists from the Kharkiv Scientific Research Forensic Center. After it became known that the soldier was alive, an official inspection was conducted, but it did not reveal any violations.
16.50 The security service detained a local resident in the Transcarpathian region who, at the request of Russia, was trying to register Starlink satellite terminals.
He planned to involve his pregnant wife, an elderly relative, and an acquaintance who rented his apartment in the sabotage. If the first registrations were successful, the attacker hoped to find new front persons and activate more terminals.
SBU officers acted proactively and detained the suspect at his place of residence. During the searches, a smartphone with evidence of his work in the Russian Federation was seized from him.
16.42 On Wednesday, from the beginning of the day and as of 16:00, the Russian army carried out 69 attacks. Almost all of them took place in three directions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in an operational summary.
16.34 On the afternoon of March 25, Russian troops launched a series of strikes on a hospital in the village of Shevchenkove, Kupyansky district, Kharkiv region, injuring three people. This was reported by the State Emergency Service in Kharkiv region. It is noted that as a result of enemy strikes, the building was partially destroyed, and the fire spread to 50 sq m.
16.22 In the Kharkiv region, sergeants were exposed who illegally resigned from service and received 100,000 hryvnias from the state.
Sergeants from two military units were dismissed from service according to the same scheme. They submitted reports and forged documents about the health of their loved ones. Allegedly, their wives have group II disability and require constant care.
Based on the documents provided, their discharge reports were signed, and each of them received 100,000 hryvnias in cash benefits from the state.
The two suspects have been charged with fraud and evasion of military service, which could result in up to 10 years in prison.
15.59 The aggressor country Russia allegedly continues to remain open to negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement and maintains contacts with the Americans on this topic. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a comment to Russian propagandists.
15.51 Due to Ukrainian strikes on Russian ports around St. Petersburg, a queue of "shadow fleet" tankers headed there to load began to accumulate in the Gulf of Finland.
According to the MarineTraffic resource, which tracks vessel traffic, more than 20 tankers from the "shadow fleet" are anchored near the Russian coast, most of them in the Ust-Luga area.
Several dozen tankers are anchored in the Gulf of Finland. Photo: Marine Traffic
15.40 A channel for the illegal trafficking of men of military age abroad has been uncovered in Ukraine. Two residents of the Kyiv region, aged 67 and 27, members of one of the religious communities, were notified of the suspicion. The elder of them is a military chaplain and, according to the investigation, organized the scheme and coordinated its work. The Prosecutor General's Office reported this on March 25.
It is noted that the men were taken from the Kyiv region, transported to Bukovina and prepared to illegally cross the border with Romania outside official checkpoints. To avoid detection, the organizer transported them in a minibus, hiding them among belongings and camouflage nets. The cost was 8,750 euros per person.
15.37 The European Commission has presented a new AGILE funding instrument worth 115 million euros, aimed at rapidly implementing revolutionary defense technologies. The European Commission's press service reported this.
European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius wrote on the social network X that the program provides for "full integration with Ukraine," as well as rapid financing of high-risk projects with an expected high impact.
15.00 Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov held a closed meeting with servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He reported this on Telegram. He gathered stormtroopers and infantrymen who are fighting in the Donetsk, Sumy, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv and Kherson directions.
14.55 The drone that flew into Estonian territory and crashed into a pipe at the Auvere power plant was Ukrainian, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said.
"First of all, it is necessary to emphasize that the goal was not to attack Estonia. According to the information we have, this is a counterattack by Ukraine on Russia, and the consequences of this attack reached our border. This is not the first such case, and, considering everything, the goal of today's attack was the port of Ust-Luga," he said.
According to available information, the Russian port was attacked by swarms of drones three times: at approximately 3 a.m., around 6 a.m., and at 8 a.m. One of the drones deviated from its course, possibly due to electronic interference from the Russian side, and crashed into a pipe at the Auvere power plant, located in northeastern Estonia.
According to the prime minister, several more drones passed through Estonian airspace.
14.38 Demobilization in the Ukrainian army will be carried out as fairly as possible and will take into account various factors. The corresponding mechanism is currently being developed. This was stated by the Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Major General Gennady Shapovalov, Ukrinform reported.
He assured that the specified service deadlines are already specified in the contracts.
14.29 Four deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation have been notified of suspicion of encroaching on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Prosecutor General's Office reports this .
According to the investigation, in 2022, deputies Agayev B.V., Chemerys R.B., Khamitov A.M., Alekseenko M.M. voted for the legislative acts of the Russian Federation, which became the basis for the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories - Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.
14.24 Ukraine needs a larger number of interceptors - about 2,000 anti-ballistic missiles per year. This was stated by European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius.
"Last year, Ukraine faced 2,000 missile strikes, and about 900 of these missiles were ballistic. The Russians have managed to improve the characteristics of their ballistics, these missiles can now change trajectory, which means that countermeasures have become less effective, as the Ukrainians themselves have told us," he noted.
Kubilius explained that in this regard, more than one interceptor may be needed to intercept each ballistic missile.
"In this regard, Ukrainians need about 2,000 anti-ballistic missiles per year," the European Commissioner said.
13.33 On Wednesday night, Ukrainian military personnel struck the strategic port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region of the Russian Federation. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine . The tank farm and standers – devices for draining/loading oil and petroleum products – were hit. The extent of the damage is still being determined.
12.58 On March 23, Russian troops struck a dam on the Seversky Donets River in the Raigorodok district of Donetsk region with two guided bombs. There are about two weeks of water reserves left in the reservoirs. This was stated by Igor Novak, CEO of the Donbass Water Company.
According to him, the shelling destroyed the hydraulic unit, making it impossible to fill the water intakes on the First and Second Rises of the Seversky Donets - Donbas Canal.
"Currently, there is only two weeks of water left. Therefore, water supply schedules will be introduced in the cities of the Donetsk region. We also ask people to use water rationally and economically," Novak noted.
12.34 On Wednesday night, Ukrainian military personnel managed to hit a Russian combat icebreaker in the Leningrad region of the Russian Federation at the Vyborg Shipbuilding Plant. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the details .
12.20 The Kremlin's Mouthpieces section of the War&Sanctions portal published information about five Russian bloggers, military correspondents and other public figures who participate in disinformation campaigns of the Russian Federation aimed at justifying the war against Ukraine and discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
12.00 As a result of the Russian attack on Vinnytsia region on March 24, the number of injured people increased to 18 people. Two of the wounded remain in serious condition, four more are in moderate condition.
It is noted that 35 private houses, seven apartment buildings and four other buildings in public areas were damaged in the region. One private house was completely destroyed, two more suffered significant damage. In other houses, windows were broken, roofs, doors and facades were damaged.
11.19 The massive attack on Ukraine on March 23-24 is a significant and dangerous shift in Russian strike tactics. The new strategy allows the Russian Federation to maintain pressure for longer and cover more regions, according to a report by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Analysts note that now Russian strikes are being stretched out in time, combining drones and missiles, and the main goal is to overload and expose the vulnerability of Ukrainian air defenses.
ISW points out that Russia is using a "stockpile and strike" tactic: a limited number of missiles are launched over a period of several days, followed by massive attacks using missiles and a large number of drones at the same time. This approach allows to overload Ukrainian air defenses and increase the destructive effect.
Experts estimate that Russia is already approaching the capability of launching over 1,000 strike drones in a single series of attacks. The events of March 23-24 were the closest example of such a scenario to being realized.
ISW also notes that such attacks often coincide with important diplomatic events. In particular, the latest attack occurred immediately after talks between Ukraine and the United States in Florida, which may indicate an attempt to put pressure on Kyiv and its allies.
Experts warn that Russia could take advantage of the shortage of air defense systems, including Patriot, as well as the diversion of international attention to the Middle East, to intensify its air campaign against Ukraine.
11.05 As a result of a missile strike on the Russian city of Belgorod, 450,000 local residents were left without power supply . This was reported by the so-called governor Vyacheslav Gladkov on Telegram.
10.39 On Wednesday morning, new power outages were recorded in five regions of Ukraine due to the massive missile and drone attack of the previous day, as well as due to enemy strikes on the energy infrastructure of frontline and border regions with Russia. This was reported by Ukrenergo.
10.31 Russian troops attacked liberated settlements in the right-bank Kherson region with artillery, mortars, multiple launch rocket systems, and UAVs of various types. As a result of the shelling, one person was killed and seven were injured.
10.28 The case of one of the key collaborators in the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, regarding stolen Ukrainian grain worth over 5.3 billion hryvnias, which was exported abroad under the guise of Russian grain, has been transferred to court.
09.43 About 21 thousand residents of Slavutych, Kyiv region, were left without electricity as a result of the morning Russian attack.
Critical infrastructure has been switched to backup power sources. Heat and water supply are provided. Social institutions are operating on generators. Communications and the Internet remain available. Inviolability points are open and ready to receive people.
09.27 As of the morning of March 25, seven people remain in Lviv hospitals injured as a result of yesterday's Russian drone attack.
"Of the 27 people who sought help from city hospitals yesterday, seven remain in hospitals," said Mayor Andriy Sadovyi.
Two patients are in St. Panteleimon Hospital. They have leg injuries, wounds and bruises, and their condition is moderate.
Five more victims are being treated at St. Luke's Hospital. Three of them are in serious condition, but conscious and stable. Two more are in moderate condition.
8.59 Russia attacked Ukraine with 147 strike drones, air defenses neutralized 121 of them, there were hits at 18 locations. This is reported by the Air Force.
Since 19:00 on Tuesday, the enemy launched Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas and other types of drones from the following directions: Orel, Kursk, Bryansk, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk - Russian Federation, Gvardiyske - TOT AR Crimea. More than 80 of them were "Shaheeds".
8.46 The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine recorded 191 combat clashes over the past 24 hours. The largest number of battles were in the Pokrov direction - 47 and Hulyaipil direction - 22. This is evidenced by the morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
7.51 The Ukrainian Defense Forces killed and wounded 1,220 Russian occupiers over the past 24 hours, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports.
06.28 Russia's oil export revenues have grown rapidly, reaching a four-year high and returning to the level of March 2022. This jump is explained by the easing of US sanctions and an increase in global energy prices due to the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East. Bloomberg writes about this.
06.07 On the night of Wednesday, March 25, Russia attacked Ukraine with drones. Explosions were heard in Chernihiv and Kharkiv. Enemy drones were hit in two districts of Kharkiv. The consequences of the attack are currently being clarified, said the city's mayor, Igor Terekhov. Correspondents of Suspilny also reported on the explosion in Chernihiv.
05.55 A series of powerful explosions shook the Russian city of Belgorod on the night of Wednesday, March 25. As a result of the missile strike, previously reported by HIMARS missiles, disruptions to electricity, water, and heating were recorded.
05.02 On the night of Wednesday, March 25, a massive attack involving unmanned aerial vehicles was recorded in the territory of the Leningrad region of the Russian Federation. One of the key targets of the attack was the strategic port of Ust-Luga, which plays an important role in Russia's energy infrastructure. After a series of explosions, a fire broke out in the port
03.29 Russian troops have advanced in the Kharkiv region, in particular near the village of Ambarne. This information was published in a report by the DeepState project.
02.31 In Ternopil region, as a result of a massive attack by Russian drones on March 24, energy infrastructure facilities and one administrative building were hit. According to the head of the Ternopil regional military administration, Taras Pastukh, there are still power outages in the region. Specialists are working to restore power as soon as possible.
01.29 On the night of Wednesday, March 25, Russia again launched new groups of strike drones into the territory of Ukraine. An air alert was declared in several regions, and destruction and fires caused by the strikes were recorded in Sumy and Poltava regions. This was reported by representatives of local authorities.
00.27 US President Donald Trump, during a briefing at the White House, expressed his belief that Ukraine and Russia are close to ending the war. However, there is a deep animosity between Zelensky and Putin, which, according to him, is complicating the negotiation process.