Russian forces have reportedly emerged from abandoned gas pipelines in Kursk to launch a surprise attack on Ukrainian units. Elsewhere, Russia, Iran and China are planning joint naval drills to „deepen military trust“ between the countries. Listen to the Trump 100 podcast as you scroll.
Sunday 9 March 2025 12:30, UK
The European Union remains committed to entirely phasing out the supply of Russian gas, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says.
„I commit very clearly to phasing out the Russian gas … this is an absolute must,“ she told reporters in Brussels.
„We’ve been successful, but we always see of course that there are loopholes where we have to be careful and we have to work on.“
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On this special Q&A episode of Trump 100, our US correspondents James Matthews and David Blevins read through questions from listeners.
They are asked if the war in Ukraine could spill into Europe, and if Donald Trump can be an impartial negotiator, or is self-interest driving his decisions? And one listener compares Trump to a certain Hollywood character… but who?
You can email James, Martha, and Mark at trump100@sky.uk.
Rishi Sunak says seizing Russian assets to support Ukraine should be seen as a down payment on the reparations that Moscow „will clearly owe“ Kyiv at the end of the war.
„Two things are clear at the moment: Ukraine needs more resources and more pressure must be put on Russia,“ the former prime minister wrote in the Sunday Times.
„A policy that would help fulfil both these objectives is seizing the Russian state assets that are in our financial system.“
Sunak says Russia will „undoubtedly“ owe Ukraine reparations for the damage it has inflicted on the country since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
„The size of these reparations will inevitably exceed the value of Russian state assets in our financial systems and those of our allies,“ he adds.
„So, seizing these assets is a reasonable counter-measure and can be regarded as a down payment on the reparations that Russia will clearly owe Ukraine.“
‚UK must bring Kyiv and Washington together‘
Sunak says the UK must act as a link between Ukraine and US, as it has the unique role of being both countries „most trusted ally“.
„We must strive to make sure that they understand each other and their mutual interests.“
He adds that the way Volodymyr Zelenskyy was treated by Donald Trump and JD Vance in the Oval Office last week was „wrong“.
„No head of state of a friendly nation should be treated like that, let alone one who has had to shoulder the burden of leading his country through a war of national survival for the past three years.“ he says.
„But now we need to help bring Washington and Kyiv together as quickly as possible.“
Pope Francis has repeated calls for an end to the war in Ukraine.
The pontiff, who has been battling pneumonia and bronchitis for more than three weeks, called for the „gift of peace“ to reach the war-torn country in today’s written Aneglus prayer.
„We need this, the ‚miracle of tenderness‘ which accompanies those who are in adversity, bringing a little light into the night of pain,“ he wrote.
„Together let us continue to invoke the gift of peace, in particular in tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.“
Russia’s defence ministry has just announced it has captured a village in the southern part of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
It claims to have seized the village of Konstyantynopil.
Earlier, the defence ministry said Russian troops had captured one settlement in Russia’s Kursk region and another in Ukraine’s Sumy region (see last post).
Russian forces appear to have made significant territorial gains in the Kursk region and might be close to forcing a full Ukrainian retreat in the region.
Open source maps showed this week that Ukraine’s positions in Kursk have deteriorated sharply, with reports yesterday suggesting Ukrainians were nearly surrounded by Russians.
Pro-Russian war bloggers said yesterday that Moscow’s forces had begun an assault on Sudzha, the main town in the region which Ukraine has held since launching its surprise offensive into Kursk last August.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke says holding on to Sudzha is crucial to Ukraine keeping a foothold in the area, which in turn will give them a better bargaining position in potential peace talks with Moscow.
„Undoubtedly the Russians want to close this pocket before they get drawn into any peace negotiations about territory, because if the pocket is still there, then, they’ll have to exchange it for something.“
New advances recorded
This morning, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had retaken another village in Kursk and even seized a Ukrainian village across the border in the Sumy region.
Russian activity has been largely non-existent in Sumy since April 2022, when Moscow withdrew from the province to focus its efforts on eastern Ukraine.
Special forces in the pipes
Pro-Russian military bloggers said Russian special forces had recently walked miles along the inside of a major gas pipeline before surprising Ukrainian forces from the rear near Sudzha.
Russian Telegram channels showed pictures of special forces in gas masks and lights, some using colourful Russian curses, along the inside of what looked like a large pipe. Sky News could not independently verify these images.
A statement from Ukraine’s general staff said that Russian soldiers had used the gas pipeline in an attempt to gain a foothold, but airborne forces detected them and responded with aerial attacks that were destroying the Russian units.
„At present, Russian special forces are being detected, blocked and destroyed. The enemy’s losses in Sudzha are very high,“ the General Staff reported.
For context: Thousands of Ukrainian troops stormed into Russia’s Kursk region last August, partly as a way of diverting parts of Moscow’s army away from the frontline in eastern Ukraine.
Analysts believed Kyiv had been hoping to use its presence in Kursk as leverage over Russia in any peace talks.
Russian officials have been criticised after presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders.
Bereaved mothers were presented with the gift along with flowers for International Women’s Day.
Russia is often accused of throwing its troops into a „meat grinder“ with little regard for their lives. The phrase refers to a tactic of sending waves of soldiers into combat one after another, risking heavy losses, with the aim of overpowering the enemy.
Some online commentators called the gesture „shameful“ and „inappropriate“.
The local branch of government in the northwestern town of Polyarniye Zori defended itself against the backlash, saying critics were making „callous and provocative interpretations“ of the gifts.
The Latvian president has urged European countries to „absolutely“ introduce conscription, as he conceded the continent was „quite weak“ militarily.
Edgars Rinkevics told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that European countries should increase defence spending amid the „ups and downs“ in relations with the US.
Latvia introduced conscription for men in 2023 and has pushed defence spending to 4% of the country’s GDP.
„Seeing what is happening in the world, the decision that we took – many other European countries need to follow that,“ Rinkevics said.
„A lot of people are a little bit nervous. People are following the news. Of course strong reassurances [are] one thing, but another thing is other European governments [have] to make sure that we all get stronger.“
But Rinkevics said he believes that both Europe and the US „understand the risks and the threats“ of the future of NATO.
While calling Latvia and fellow Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania the „litmus test of NATO“, Rinkevics also called for an increase in „the overall presence“ on the countries‘ borders with Russia amid „increasing risks“.
The three Baltic countries – located on NATO’s eastern flank with Russia – are among the highest defence spenders in NATO as a percentage of GDP.
They are also, relative to their size, among the biggest supporters of Ukraine and have been the strongest voices in Europe raising the alarm about the threat posed by President Vladimir Putin for years.
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed six people over the past day, regional authorities said.
As we mentioned earlier, Ukraine’s air force reported 119 Russian drones fired at the country overnight, with 73 of those shot down (see 7.22am post).
In the Donetsk region, governor Vadym Filashkin said two people were killed in the cities of Pokrovsk and Siversk, with another 23 injured.
A 14-year-old was killed as a result of Russian shelling in the village of Kivsharivka in the Kharkiv region, its governor said.
Meanwhile, in the Kherson region, three people were killed and nine others were injured, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 52 Ukrainian drones over its Belgorod border region last night, according to Moscow.
It says 88 drones were launched overnight, with no serious injuries or damage reported.
Of those, 52 were destroyed over Belgorod, while 13 were over the Lipetsk region and nine were over the Rostov region, both in Russia’s southwest.
The rest of the Ukrainian drones were downed over Russia’s Voronezh, Astrakhan, Krasnodar, Ryazan and Kursk regions, authorities added.
Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said three airports were closed for traffic for several hours overnight to ensure air safety.
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Ukraine war latest: Russian troops 'use gas pipeline' to surprise Ukrainian forces in Kursk – Sky News
