This week, battles continued to rage along the front lines. With spring officially here, Ukraine looks back at the harshest winter of the war.
Russia’s “energy terror” against Ukraine did not break the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi told reporters on Monday. Despite extensive damage, Ukraine’s energy system maintains stability. The power outages now last shorter. Russia is preparing another wave of major aerial attacks against Ukraine that will target the country’s water supply system, Zelenskyi said. Russia has intensified drone attacks on Ukraine’s railway infrastructure since the beginning of March, Ukrzaliznytsia, the national railway operator said Wednesday. It carried out 18 such strikes this month.
In February, Ukraine retook more land than Russia captured in the same month, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Monday. Ukraine has regained control of 460 square kilometers of land since the beginning of the year, Zelenskyi said.
Ukraine is carefully watching the situation unfold in the Middle East. Zelenskyi offered to send his best experts in shooting down Iranian drones to the Middle East if leaders there convince Vladimir Putin to agree to a month-long truce in Russia’s war on Ukraine, Bloomberg News said Monday. The U.S. and Gulf states are in talks to buy Ukraine-made interceptor drones to fend off Iranian attacks, the Financial Times said Thursday.
Peace talks have faded into the background. Seventy per cent of Ukrainians do not believe that the current negotiations will lead to lasting peace, a poll found. Ukraine’s pullout from Donbas would save Russia up to a million troops, Zelenskyi said.
Ukraine to send experts, equipment to Middle East after a U.S. request to help counter Iranian drones there, Zelenskyi says.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Thursday that Ukraine would provide assistance to the U.S. in response to its request for help in dealing with Iranian drones in the Middle East.
In a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he would take assistance from any country, when asked about Zelenskyi’s offer of support to help defend against Iranian drones.
Zelenskyi said Thursday Ukraine had received a request from the U.S. to support protection against Iranian Shahed drones in the Middle East. “I gave instructions to provide the necessary means and ensure the presence of Ukrainian specialists who can guarantee the required security. Ukraine helps partners who help ensure our security and protect the lives of our people,” he said in a post to X.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyi said he had instructed the military command and government to plan assistance to Middle East countries so that it doesn’t weaken Ukraine’s defenses. “Ukraine can contribute to protecting lives and stabilizing the situation. Partners are reaching out to us. I have tasked Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, together with intelligence agencies, the Minister of Defense, our military command, and the NSDC [National Security and Defense Council] Secretary, to present options for assisting the relevant countries and to provide aid in a way that does not weaken our own defense here in Ukraine,” he said on X.