Ukraine and Russia continue to report drone attacks, this time just hours after the framework of a partial ceasefire in the Black Sea was agreed. Meanwhile, Russia said its new ambassador to the US will leave for Washington today. Follow the latest here.
Wednesday 26 March 2025 08:24, UK
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These maps show the latest territorial situation, indicating how much ground is held by Russian and Ukrainian forces.
The first map shows a wide view of the conflict, and from left to right you can see closer views of the fronts in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk and of the Russian region of Kursk, where Putin’s forces have advanced and pushed Ukraine’s positions back in recent weeks.
Ukrainians attended a funeral in Kyiv for a volunteer medic local media says joined the armed forces.
Oleksandr „Bohush“ Oliynyk was killed last week while „performing official duties“, according to reports.
Donald Trump has spoken overnight, giving some thoughts on how talks with Russia are progressing (or not).
Asked by right-wing broadcaster Newsmax if Russia are dragging their feet, Trump said: „I’ll let you know at a certain point, but I think Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they’re dragging their feet.
„I’ve done it over the years, you know, I don’t want to sign a contract, I want to stay in the game, but maybe I don’t want to do it quite, I’m not sure.
„But no, I think Russia would like to see an end, and I think Zelenskyy would like to see an end at this point.“
He added there was a case last week „where Ukrainian soldiers were surrounded by Russian soldiers“.
„And this was not good, and I think I had a big impact on not having all of them killed, but they were killed, it’s a bloody war,“ he added.
He appears to be referring to the Kursk region in Russia, which Ukraine invaded last summer but has lost ground in recent weeks.
Trump did not offer any evidence for his claim troops are surrounded.
Russia ‚giving Americans the run-around‘
Our military analyst Michael Clarke said Russia is „giving the American team a complete run-around“ in negotiations.
Speaking during a live Q&A yesterday, he said the US is going for quick negotiations, in contrast to Russia’s „run-the-clock-down“ approach.
„They’re giving them a lesson in tough diplomacy, and there are none tougher than the Russians when it comes to negotiating something on the Black Sea,“ Clarke added.
Catch up on his full insight in the video at the top of this page, or in the link below…
More now on the reported drone strikes overnight.
Ukraine’s air force has said 117 drones were launched by Russia – with 56 of them shot down.
Another 48 were lost, referring to potential electronic jamming.
That leaves 13 drones, but it’s not clear what became of them
It’s still unclear when the US-brokered agreement to pause Black Sea attacks will come into effect, but it certainly seems it hasn’t yet.
As Ukraine reported downing drones over a port city – see our previous post – Russia has also claimed it has destroyed a Ukrainian wave over the Black Sea.
The defence ministry said nine Ukrainian drones were downed, though it was also not immediately clear whether they were aimed at Black Sea targets or just flying over the waters.
Russia hasn’t claimed any damage and there were no immediate reports of hits on targets on the sea.
However, a local governor said a drone attack overnight left one civilian injured and caused minor damage to a residential building in Belgorod.
Vyacheslav Gladkov said the person was taken to hospital with head injuries.
The defence ministry said five drones were destroyed over Belgorod.
Drone strikes have been reported just hours after the US reached separate deals with Ukraine and Russia to pause attacks over the Black Sea.
The mayor of the port city of Mykolaiv said there were emergency power outages early this morning after reports seven drones were downed over the region.
It’s not clear if those power cuts were precautionary or a result of the overnight attack.
Meanwhile, Russia launched its biggest drone attack yet on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, according to the city’s military administration chief.
Writing on the Telegram messaging app, Oleksandr Vilkul said „apparently, this is how the occupiers ‚want peace'“.
„Most importantly, there were no deaths or injuries,“ he added.
Neither report has been independently verified, though Kryvyi Rih has been a frequent target during the war.
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine, after the first tentative agreement was reached between Kyiv and Moscow.
They agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea, but quickly disputed when it would start.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Kremlin of lying when it said the truce would only begin once some Western sanctions were lifted.
He maintained the agreement came into force as soon as it was announced by the US yesterday afternoon.
In a huge change of US policy, Donald Trump’s administration said it would „help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions“.
Trump said his administration was „looking into“ Russian requests to lift sanctions.
The Kremlin said a moratorium on energy attacks until mid-April was also built into the agreement and released a list of protected facilities.
But the wording of the deal itself was more ambiguous, stating the parties had agreed to „develop measures for implementing“ a ban on strikes against energy facilities.
That’s all for our live coverage this evening, but we’ll be back with more updates and analysis tomorrow.
If you’re just checking in, here’s a recap of the key moments today:
The US has proposed a „major agreement“ on critical minerals in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
„I don’t have all the details yet. I’ve asked for a thorough review of the agreement, a clear explanation of all its details, and only then will we convene to discuss it,“ the Ukrainian leader told Ukrinform.
The Ukrainian parliament will vote on the agreement once it has been negotiated, he said.
„Most likely, both sides will continue to refine this document.“
Which critical minerals?
The critical minerals deal has emerged as a way to mortgage Ukrainian security against its mineral wealth.
The Trump administration has targeted minerals, hydrocarbons, oil and gas, but the handful of rare earth deposits that Ukraine hosts haven’t been surveyed since Soviet times.
The US Geological Survey doesn’t include the country in its list of either top producers or largest reserves.
Ukraine does have reserves of critical metals like titanium and lithium, but infrastructure and power is a big hurdle to getting them out of the ground.
Prior to the Atlantic article uncovering the Signal group chat security breach, the Pentagon sent out a department-wide email alerting of a known vulnerability in the app to Russian hackers, our US partner network NBC News reports.
The email explained: „Russia-aligned threat groups are actively targeting the Signal Messenger application of individuals likely to exchange sensitive military and government communications related to the war in Ukraine.“
It stated Google released a report last month highlighting Russia-linked groups using a Signal QR code that linked a malicious actor’s phone to another device, allowing the messages of the linked phone to be read.
Two defence officials told NBC News that department employees were told to update to the latest version of the app and apply proper settings.
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Ukraine war latest: Russia launches drone attacks on Ukrainian port city – as Kyiv and Moscow dispute ceasefire details – Sky News
