Brent futures, the global benchmark for oil prices, increased 16% on March 8, near to $108 a barrel. Prices last reached this level in 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces have liberated up to 435 kilometers of Russian-occupied territory in the country's south, thwarting Moscow's efforts to mount a southern offensive, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on March 8.

"The main message will be that Slovakia is ready to take over the baton from Hungary if necessary," Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on March 8.

Hard-line cleric Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been chosen as Iran's next Supreme Leader, the country's state media announced on March 8.

Zelensky said that he and the Dutch leader had discussed investments in arms production, its possible scope, and the licensing of weapons.

A drone that struck a U.K. air base in Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus on March 1 contained Russian technology, the Times reported March 7.

Ukrainian company Sky Fall’s Shrike Fiber drone reportedly took first place in the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance selection in partnership with U.K.-based Skycutter, Defender Media reported March 7.

This May will mark six years since I put on a military uniform and began serving in the same marine infantry unit — first as a combat medic in a reconnaissance platoon, and now as a strike drone operator. I have witnessed three distinct forms of war: the forgotten trench war, the large-scale war of maneuver, and the drone war. Over that time, after many combat operations and losses, much has changed within me. It is gratifying to see how attitudes toward women in the military have shifted duri

Key developments on March 7-8 * Russian attack kills 11 in Kharkiv, including 2 children * Ukraine halts Russian offensive toward Zaporizhzhia, killing, injuring 300 Russian troops, HUR claims * Ukraine hits Russian Shahed-type drone storage in Donetsk with SCALP, ATACMS missiles, military says * US supplying Ukraine-tested anti-drone systems to Middle East partners, WSJ reports * Russian drone strikes Ukrainian train with 200 passengers on board Russian troops struck a five-story buildin

Russia launched 117 drones, including Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicles, and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles overnight, the Air Force reported.

Editor's note: 4:55 p.m. Kyiv Time: This story has been updated with information the General Staff published later in the day. Russia has lost around 1,273,290 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on March 7. The number includes 930 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day. According to the report, Russia has also lost 11,742 tanks, 24,157 armored combat vehicles, 82,101 ve

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, Anna Belokur examines how Russia and its allies have rapidly expanded the use of long-range attack drones — and why much of the world remains unprepared to defend against them.

YAHIDNE, CHERNIHIV OBLAST – The unkept school stands still, surrounded by pine and birch trees covered with melting snow. Shattered windows remain, and the voices emanating from the audioguide bear witness to the torment of the ordeal inflicted upon the villagers by Russian occupation. Russian troops captured Yahidne village in northern Chernihiv Oblast on March 3, 2022. All the civilians who could not escape the village in time were trapped — Russian soldiers forced all, from infants to the e

Local authorities reported no injuries at the time, and passengers were redirected to their final stations.

"Adherence to the values of freedom, human dignity, and international law must be defining for the global artistic community, as must solidarity with the Ukrainian people whose culture is being targeted for destruction."

Zero deaths linked to winter power or heating outages have been officially recorded in Kyiv, city authorities have said, despite months of severe cold caused by repeated Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. As Ukraine emerges from winter, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 1 that Russia launched more than 14,600 guided aerial bombs, 738 missiles, and nearly 19,000 attack drones over the three winter months. "But despite everything, Ukrainians made it through this difficu

"We don't know but it's not doing very well, if they are," Trump told journalists. "It's not doing much, if you take a look at what's happened to Iran over the past week."

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that it had shot down four Ukrainian drones over Krasnodar Krai overnight.

Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank said on March 7 that it will pursue legal action to recover bank property still held in Hungary after the recent detention of its employees and armored vehicles.

The U.S. is supplying Ukraine-tested anti-drone systems to partners in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 7, highlighting growing international demand for Kyiv’s battlefield-proven technology capable of countering Iranian drone attacks.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 7 that Russian components have been identified in Iranian-made drones used in attacks against the United States and countries in the Middle East, pointing to broader cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.

A Russia-linked disinformation campaign has circulated artificial intelligence-generated images depicting the detention of Ukrainian bank employees by Hungarian authorities, fact-checking outlet Vastagbor reported March 7.

Russia attacked Kharkiv, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles and drones overnight on March 7, targeting energy infrastructure.

With three gold, two bronze, and one silver medal, Ukraine leads the overall medal standings.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president's commissioner for sanctions, said that the Caffa ship was traveling from Morocco to St. Petersburg, transporting grain. According to him, the vessel was previously involved in stealing grain from occupied Ukrainian territories.

For the first time in 12 years, Russia will compete under its national flag at the 2026 Paralympic Games — a return that comes despite its ongoing all-out war against Ukraine and a pattern of doping scandals that led to the initial ban. "There is simply no justification for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to allow Russia and Belarus back while the invasion of Ukraine continues," Global Athlete Director General Rob Koehler told the Kyiv Independent. "The IPC has blood on its hands

In the fifth year of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the Russian pavilion is set to return to the Venice Art Biennale with a “musical festival come to life” that serves as “a space for dialogue and exchange.” The pavilion was effectively canceled in 2022 after the artists and curator chosen to represent Russia withdrew in protest of the invasion. At the time, the organizers of the Biennale released a statement praising the decision and condemning “all those who use violence to prevent

A leader of the anti-government 2020 protests in Belarus, Maria Kalesnikava, reemerged from prison with a message that has polarized many: Europe must reengage with Belarus’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. Human lives, Europe’s security, and Belarus’ future are at stake, Kalesnikava argues. After suppressing nationwide protests in 2020, and turning to Russia’s Vladimir Putin for support while doing so, Lukashenko became an international pariah — one whose isolation only deepened as Belarus bec

The units of Ukraine's military intelligence and the Armed Forces have stopped Russia's advance toward the city of Zaporizhzhia as part of a three-month defensive operation in the country's south, HUR claimed on March 7.

Ukrainian forces targeted a Russian site used for the storage, preparation, and launch of Shahed-type drones with Western long-range missiles near the airport in occupied Donetsk, the General Staff reported on March 7.

Russia launched 480 drones, including Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicles, and 29 missiles, including hypersonic Zircon anti-ship missile and Iskander-M ballistic missiles, overnight, the Air Force reported.

The number includes 1,010 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.