Zelenskyy pitches Ukraine’s maritime experience
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Ukraine could share its experience with open sea routes and defended shipping with countries weighing how to keep the Strait of Hormuz open during the Middle East conflict. Because apparently one war is never enough for the global agenda.
In his nightly video address, the Ukrainian president said foreign minister Andrii Sybiha had joined a virtual meeting focused on reopening the strait, with about 40 countries taking part. Zelenskyy said Ukraine had practical knowledge from the Black Sea, where maritime traffic has had to be protected and reopened under wartime pressure.
"Ukraine has relevant expertise concerning sea waterways, and the defence and reopening of maritime traffic," he said. "If [our] partners are ready to act, we will consider how we can strengthen them, how we can apply our expertise, knowledge and technological potential."
Russia’s territorial advance stalls
An AFP analysis based on data from the Institute for the Study of War found that Russian forces did not gain any territory on Ukraine’s front line in March, the first month in two and a half years in which that was the case.
The pace of Russian advances has been slowing since late 2025, according to the analysis, after local Ukrainian breakthroughs in the south-east. Russian troops also lost ground in February and March along the southern stretch of the front between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Across the full front line, Ukrainian forces recaptured 9 sq km in March.
North Korea prepares a museum for its war dead
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations, a site still under construction, according to state media KCNA.
The museum in Pyongyang is meant to honor soldiers sent to support the Russian army in the war in Ukraine. KCNA said construction is nearly finished, and Kim said the opening ceremony would take place in mid-April, which would mark the first anniversary of the deployment.
Children to be returned to Ukraine
The White House said on Thursday that six Ukrainian children will be returned from Russia to their families in Ukraine, citing efforts by Melania Trump to speed up their return. The first lady’s office also said a seventh child will be reunited with family later this month.
Ukraine says nearly 20,000 children have been illegally taken to Russia and Belarus, where some have reportedly been put through military training and forced to fight against Ukraine.
Russian strikes hit several regions
Russian attacks across Ukraine on Thursday killed at least two people and wounded dozens, according to officials, as Moscow intensified strikes while peace talks remained stuck in place.
In the south-eastern Kherson region, prosecutors said Russian forces attacked with artillery, mortars and drones. A 42-year-old man was killed when a drone hit a civilian car, and 16 others were wounded in air strikes and shelling, including a teenage boy and three police officers.
In the Chernihiv region, north of Kyiv, Dmytro Bryzhynsky, head of the military administration, said Russia launched a ballistic missile attack.
Kharkiv hit by a day of drone attacks
Russian forces kept up drone strikes on Kharkiv throughout Thursday, injuring at least two people in Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov posted updates on Telegram through the day and into the evening, reporting strikes in four districts. One city official said there had been at least 20 drone strikes. Some of the attacks sparked fires, and two people were injured in an evening strike, including an eight-year-old girl.
Pressure on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state oil and gas company, said Russian forces carried out 129 attacks on gas and heating facilities during the most recent 151-day heating season.
"The Russians hit pipelines, gas production, underground storage facilities, heating systems - everything that Ukrainians depend on for heat and gas," the company said in a statement.
