The Russians launched 27 Shaheds and decoy drones against Ukraine. Ukraine's air defense forces shot down 16 drones over Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kharkiv oblasts, while nine decoy drones disappeared from radar without causing damage. The drones were launched from the Russian cities of Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk. In Kharkiv Oblast, the Russians struck a hospital in the town of Zolochiv around midnight. The roof caught fire but, the fire was extinguished within six hours. However, while the fire was raging, the Russians launched two more drones 40 minutes later as a “double tap” to target emergency responders, none were injured. A 33-year-old emergency medical team employee suffered an acute stress reaction from the attack and was the only casualty.


A classified US intelligence report from March 6 states Putin remains determined to gain control over Kyiv. Officials believe even if Putin agrees to a temporary truce, he will use it to regroup and rearm. European intelligence suggests Moscow views Trump as weak and susceptible to manipulation, and if a permanent ceasefire is reached, Russia would likely return to "hybrid" methods of undermining Ukraine.


Austria's Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger visited Kyiv on March 14 and announced the allocation of €5 million for mine clearance of Ukrainian agricultural land and €2 million for delivering Ukrainian grain to Middle Eastern countries. She and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha laid flowers at the wall of remembrance for fallen Ukrainian soldiers, with Meinl-Reisinger declaring "Austria's full commitment to Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity."


Russians are planning to build seven grain silos in occupied Donetsk Oblast, each capable of holding 20,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain. Currently, they store about 165,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain in occupied territories for illegal sale. In 2023, Russian state-owned companies exported nearly 212,000 tonnes of grain from occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, worth approximately $46 million, to countries including Turkey, Libya, and Israel.


Belarus's dictator Alexander Lukashenko announced that "the process of Belarusian-Russian integration should be made irreversible," though he noted unification won't happen "shortly." He suggested Russia and Belarus could eventually form a single parliament "if both are ready."


Bulgaria is preparing to sell Ukraine reactors for its Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant. Ukraine's Energy Minister Halushchenko reported that Bulgaria confirmed Ukraine's interest in the project, but agreement details need to be worked out. Ukrainian MPs approved a bill in February allowing Energoatom to purchase Russian-made reactors from Bulgaria, limiting the project's budget to $600 million.


Spain and Ukraine signed an agreement on military training for Ukrainian troops on March 14. Ukraine's Defence Minister Umierov and his Spanish counterpart Robles discussed key security issues and identified areas requiring attention, including industrial cooperation, air defense systems, and delivery of ammunition and armored vehicles.


Russian airlines retired 58 passenger aircraft in 2024 due to accidents and repair impossibilities. The Russian civil aviation fleet currently consists of 1,138 aircraft and 920 helicopters. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Western sanctions banned the supply of spare parts and support for existing aircraft, forcing domestic airlines to resort to "cannibalization" – dismantling one aircraft for parts to repair another.


The European Union has proposed establishing a fund for voluntary military assistance to Ukraine ranging from €20 billion to €40 billion, bypassing Hungary's potential veto. The proposal suggests participating countries should agree to allocate €5 billion to procure 2 million large-caliber artillery shells in 2025, with each country contributing according to its economic capacity. The EU is also working on a 17th sanctions package against Russia, that targets the Russian “shadow fleet” of ships that transports petroleum products in violation of sanctions and restricting transit routes through the Baltic Sea.


The EU Committee of Permanent Representatives has approved a mandate to begin negotiations on new tariffs for Russian and Belarusian agricultural products and fertilizers. Russia accounted for a significant portion of the EU's fertilizer imports in 2023, generating €1.28 billion for the Russian government. The new tariffs will be implemented gradually over three years.



The G7 nations have announced plans to impose further sanctions on Russia and strengthen support for Ukraine if Moscow refuses to accept a ceasefire. In their joint statement, G7 foreign ministers urged Russia "to reciprocate by further sanctions, oil price caps, and using revenues from frozen Russian sovereign assets. The ministers emphasized that any ceasefire must include robust security arrangements to ensure Ukraine can defend against future aggression.


NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that relations with Russia should eventually be normalized once fighting in Ukraine ends. Rutte believes it would be "normal" to "step by step, restore normal relations with Russia" after the war, but said "we are absolutely not there yet" and pressure must continue on Russia to engage seriously in negotiations.


Estonia has imposed sanctions against four Russian citizens who were removed from the EU sanctions list at Hungary's insistence. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna announced, "I have decided to impose national sanctions against Kantor, Degtyarev, and Ismailova in response to their removal from the EU sanctions list." The individuals include Gulbahor Ismailova (sister of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov), businessman Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, and Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev. Their exclusion was a condition set by Hungary for extending sanctions against approximately 2,400 individuals implicated in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said the framework agreement with the United States on mineral resources has been completed, and Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time. "The agreement is ready; there are no changes to the text. The negotiations are closed," she stated, adding that the US side has not decided when they want to sign it.


President Zelenskyy explained that after the framework agreement, the next stage involves drafting a detailed document with concrete figures and percentages, which will then require approval from the Ukrainian Parliament. He also pointed out that Putin is setting additional ceasefire conditions that show "he does not want any ceasefire. He wants war."


During talks with the US delegation in Saudi Arabia, Zelenskyy noted that territorial issues were discussed despite not being on the meeting's agenda. He cited Russian-occupied Enerhodar as an example, saying "You can't just say: here's the plant and the city is separate." Zelenskyy repeated that all partners know Ukraine's position that occupied territories will never be recognized as Russian.


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Hungary is the only country blocking Ukraine's EU membership decision. He emphasized that EU membership is Ukraine's "number one economic guarantee" and predicted Hungarian authorities will ultimately follow US policy direction.



Hungary’s reluctance to extend EU sanctions against Russia has intensified discussions about potentially stripping Hungary of its voting rights. Hungary demanded the removal of several Russian oligarchs from the sanctions list, threatening to veto extensions. This could potentially unfreeze up to €60 billion in Russian assets if sanctions aren't extended in July.



Security advisers from the UK, Germany, and France headed to Washington DC on March 14 for an unannounced meeting with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.



Zelenskyy asserted that Ukraine's Kursk operation has achieved its main objective of drawing Russian forces away from Pokrovsk, Sumy, and the Kharkiv front.



A Ukrainian drone strike targeted a military training ground in Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod oblast on March 14. The Mulino facility houses the 333rd Combat Training Center of the Western Military District, described in Russian media as a "unique facility" with no equivalent in Russia or elsewhere in the world. The center integrates traditional training grounds with advanced computer technologies, featuring complex simulators that recreate 3D battlefields and mock-ups of cities and towns for training exercises. The facility can train up to 30,000 personnel annually. The Russian Ministry of Defense had claimed to have shot down 28 Ukrainian drones.



The Third Separate Assault Brigade has been restructured into the Third Army Corps, according to commander Andrii Biletskyi. This transformation begins a process of introducing larger formations to improve coordination between brigades during operations.



French President Emmanuel Macron met with defense manufacturers on March 14 to assess the country's ability to increase weapons production. The meeting included major firms like Safran, Thales, Naval Group, Dassault, and KNDS, along with representatives from 4,000 small and medium-sized defense enterprises.



Ivan Krutikov, a 33-year-old Russian mercenary known by the call sign "07," was killed on March 12, 2025, during fighting in Sudzha in Russia's Kursk region. Krutikov served as the commander of the Kursk Vityazi Assault Battalion, a unit formed in September 2024 specifically to repel Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast. This battalion operated as part of the Pyatnashka International Brigade, a formation notorious for being primarily composed of Abkhazian fighters that has been engaged in combat against Ukraine since 2014. Krutikov had previously fought as a member of a mercenary company, possibly Wagner, and claimed to have participated in "more than one conflict" before taking command of the Vityazi Battalion.


Portugal has ruled out the purchase of F-35 fighters, citing concerns over America’s unpredictability. Defense Minister Nuno Melo also stated Portugal may deploy troops to Ukraine as part of a European peacekeeping mission, but only if a ceasefire is established. Several other countries including Denmark, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Türkiye, and the UK have expressed willingness to participate in a peacekeeping mission.



Finnish courts sentenced Russian neo-Nazi Yan Petrovsky to life imprisonment for war crimes committed in Ukraine. Petrovsky, an officer in the "Rusich" group, was involved in the deaths of 22 Ukrainian POWs and the wounding of four others in Donetsk and Luhansk regions during 2014-2015. Ukraine requested to have Petrovsky extradited to Ukraine, but Finland rejected the request due to concerns about Ukrainian prison conditions.



Quote of the Day:

"It is not the sword that kills, it is the hedgehog."

– Miyamoto Musashi