Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 03-27-2025

“For us, good transatlantic relations are a strategic matter, and they must survive more than one term, one prime minister, one president, on both sides of the Atlantic.” – PM DonaldTusk

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday that Europe must ensure a transatlantic bond survives and approach the United States with common sense but “not on our knees” as the European Union faces US tariffs.

Tusk, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, spoke a day after US President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on all foreign-made cars, provoking threats of retaliation from trading partners.

In every region of Ukraine polled, 68-71% of citizens expressed confidence in the president.

As of the second half of March 2025, 69% of Ukrainians expressed confidence in Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky, 29% expressed distrust, and the rest hadn’t decided, a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found.

KIIS: Zelensky trusted by 69% of Ukrainians

In all regions polled, 68-71% of citizens expressed trust, while 27-31% said they felt distrust toward Zelensky, the KIIS poll found..

Britain and France sketched out plans to send a “reassurance” force after peace, but Meloni repeated her position that in Rome’s case, no “military force on the ground is planned.”

Italy’s Giorgia Meloni said Thursday she hopes the United States will be involved in the next European meeting on Ukraine and repeated Rome’s refusal to send troops to defend any peace deal.

The Italian prime minister joined Ukraine’s other European allies and President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit in Paris aimed at agreeing a coordinated policy after Donald Trump shocked Europe by opening direct talks with the Kremlin.

Pyongyang’s state media said the nation’s leader, Kim Jong Un, oversaw the tests and released photos of one of the drones – without footage of their alleged flights and operations.

North Korean state media reported that Pyongyang tested domestically produced drones aided by artificial intelligence (AI) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the testing of “various kinds of reconnaissance and suicide drones.”

Preliminary reports said six people who died in the accident were all Russian nationals.

A tourist submarine accident off the coast of Hurghada in Egypt on Thursday has led to six deaths.

The Egyptian governor of the Red Sea region, Amr Hanafy, said six tourists were dead and 39 others were rescued, according to BBC. Hanafy said nine of those rescued sustained injuries, and all passengers had been accounted for.

Poland fears a war with Russia is only a matter of time and is preparing: plans include short courses for civilians, training for reservists, and defense lessons in schools.

The Polish government intends to prepare its entire population for a potential war with Russia, said Chief of the General Staff Wiesław Kukuła. The country has announced military training courses for both men and women, Politico reports.

The plan includes short courses in civil defense and first aid for civilians with no military experience, firearms training programs for those with basic military background, and the expansion of a school program called “Education with the Army.”

Greece is ready to join a proposed peacekeeping force in Ukraine if three key requirements are met, but would withdraw its forces immediately if Russia violated the ceasefire.

The Greek news outlet Ekathimerini reports that Athens is prepared to participate in an international force in Ukraine only under three conditions: a ceasefire agreement, no deployment on Russian soil, and a clear exit strategy in the event hostilities should resume.

What are the three conditions?

The French president said a joint British-French delegation would soon head to Kyiv to lay out the details for future European peacekeeping missions.

European countries agreed at a summit in Paris on Thursday to ramp up rather than lift sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine, as Britain and France began sketching out plans to send a “reassurance” force after any peace.

President Emmanuel Macron hosted the meeting of Ukraine’s European allies and President Volodymyr Zelensky in the latest effort to agree on a coordinated policy after Donald Trump shocked Europe by opening direct talks with the Kremlin.

Other options under consideration include stationing peacekeeping troops in western Ukraine or a neighboring country, the AP source said.

European countries may deploy “a sizable force” to central Ukraine “somewhere along the Dnipro River” and away from the front once a peace deal is reached, a French official told the Associated Press (AP).  

Other options under consideration include stationing peacekeeping forces in western Ukraine or a neighboring country, the source said.

While the Trump administration might want to roll back Russia sanctions, movement on the issue hinges on EU approval – and it’s unlikely this will come quickly.

BRUSSELS – The Trump administration will need European consent to lift any Russia sanctions in order to make a recently agreed Black Sea ceasefire deal work – but that might prove complicated. 

Under the Black Sea ceasefire deal negotiated by US President Donald Trump’s administration this week, Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a truce, though Moscow said its involvement would depend on a series of pre-conditions including sanctions relief.  

According to Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, such an agreement would be a “horror show” for the country but is unlikely to be ratified by Parliament.

The US has prepared a new version of its proposed minerals agreement with Ukraine Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a People’s Deputy from the Holos party wrote in a Thursday Telegram post. According to him, he received the text of the offer, which differs considerably from previous versions, was given to him by unnamed sources and differs from.

“I received this document from our officials yesterday. According to my information, these 58 pages, which I read all evening, are dated March 23 and seem to have been sent to us by the American side as a new draft agreement on minerals,” Zheleznyak writes.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that Kyiv and Moscow had not hit each other’s energy facilities since Tuesday, the day the White House announced agreements reached at talks in Saudi Arabia.

Russia on Thursday accused Ukraine of launching drones and artillery at energy sites in the border Bryansk region and in Moscow-annexed Crimea despite agreements to halt such strikes.

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP earlier Thursday that Kyiv and Moscow had not hit each other’s energy facilities since Tuesday, the day the White House announced agreements reached at talks with the two sides in Saudi Arabia.

France urges China to help bring Russia to come to the negotiating table with “serious and good-faith proposals” on Ukraine, saying Beijing’s influence could support a just and lasting peace.

France is urging China to use its influence over Russia to persuade Moscow to be serious in peace talks about bringing its war in Ukraine to an end.

While Russian and American negotiators have been meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss partial ceasefire terms, Russia is still widely seen as not having pulled back from its maximalist war goals.

Slovakia plans to fund two NGOs behind pro-Russian media outlets that had been blacklisted for spreading Kremlin-friendly propaganda, local media reported.

According to documents published by a political activist on X, the Slovak government under the pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico plans to subsidize Verbina and Heuréka Evolution with €20,000.

Verbina is the publisher of Hlavný denník and Heuréka Evolution is linked to Hlavné správy, two news websites identified as threats to national security according to Slovakian watchdog Hoaxes and Scams.

Wartime Ukraine says Signal is a fine messaging platform if you know how to use it and that Matt Waltz’s bomb-the-Houthis chat group was a bunch of noobies.

Inside the country more than a few in the White House love to hate, Ukraine, social and mainstream media alike have taken a look at America’s ongoing Signal messaging scandal and are having a field day.

Updates on the public relations disaster caused by inadvertent inclusion of an independent reporter into an elite chat group, including most of President Donald J. Trump’s senior foreign-policy advisors, have surfaced in the Ukrainian internet at close to real-time speed, and most every new report of the expanding scandal has been accompanied by Ukrainian snark.

In Moscow I think there is disbelief, joy even, at how amateurish the US negotiation is.

Two months into the Trump presidency and the question is: “Where exactly are we in terms of peace talks over the war in Ukraine, which Trump said he could end within 24 hours of taking office?”

To recap here, I thought that prospects for peace after the US election were good, whoever won the US election.

Russia doesn’t want to give up occupied Ukrainian land, even though it’s legally Ukraine’s – Kellogg says, pointing out the obvious and explaining what negotiation means to Fox News viewers.

Russia has no intention of giving up control over the Ukrainian territories it has seized, even though they are not considered Russian under international law, a difficult situation that will require further negotiations to resolve, said Keith Kellogg, team Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine.

In an interview with Fox News, as quoted by Ukrainska Pravda, Kellogg said that Russia effectively controls the Luhansk region, while it holds only parts of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. According to him, this raises some important questions:

NATO dismissed reports that the four missing soldiers have died, adding that the search is ongoing.

Four US soldiers in a Hercules armored vehicle went missing during a tactical training exercise in Lithuania on Tuesday.

The US Army said the vehicle had been found submerged in water at the Pabrade training ground, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Belarus, adding that attempts are being made to recover the vehicle.

Washington had said Tuesday that both Kyiv and Moscow agreed separately to “develop measures for implementing” a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure.

Ukraine and Russia have not hit each other’s energy facilities since Tuesday -- the day the White House announced agreements reached at talks with the two sides in Saudi Arabia -- a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.

Washington had said Tuesday that both Kyiv and Moscow agreed separately to “develop measures for implementing” a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure.

Zelensky names Putin’s three biggest fears, warns the US about aiding Russia’s escape from isolation, and insists that Ukraine controls the Black Sea corridor.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Vladimir Putin’s greatest fear is losing power due to societal unrest and the Russian leader’s own inevitable demise.

In an interview with Eurovision News, Zelensky identified three main fears driving Putin’s actions.

From satellite data to strategic security, technological sovereignty in Ukraine and Europe has become a priority. Kyiv Post talks to one of Europe’s leaders in the industry.

After the temporary suspension of intelligence data delivery to Ukraine by the Americans, including satellite data, and the question of deactivating the Starlink system, the discussion about the security and technological sovereignty of both Ukraine and Europe is getting louder. In an interview with Stanisław Dałek, Vice President of CloudFerro, a company that handles cloud processing of satellite data for, among others, the European space industry, climate research, and science, Kyiv Post addresses questions about the factual state of sovereignty, challenges, and the applications of the technology sector, including in the process of Ukraine’s reconstruction.

One key issue is whether European forces could be deployed to prevent future Russian aggression – a plan initially proposed by Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer.

French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting a summit Thursday with European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of a possible ceasefire with Russia.

The meeting aims to outline the support Europe can offer Ukraine once a ceasefire deal is reached – including the potential deployment of military forces by a “coalition of the willing.”

Estonia’s parliament has passed a constitutional amendment revoking local election voting rights for non-EU residents, mainly Russian and Belarusian citizens.

The Baltic country’s decision stems from security concerns and the need to curb Russian influence, given that over 83,000 Russian citizens reside there, according to Estonian public broadcaster ERR News.

The amendment passed with overwhelming support. Ninety-three out of 101 lawmakers voted in favor, and only seven opposed it.

Russia and North Korea have drawn closer since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Seoul accusing leader Kim Jong Un of sending thousands of troops and containers of weapons to help Moscow.

North Korea sent an additional 3,000 troops to Russia this year and is still supplying missiles, artillery and ammunition to help Moscow fight Kyiv, Seoul’s military said on Thursday.

Traditional allies Russia and North Korea have drawn closer since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Seoul accusing leader Kim Jong Un of sending thousands of troops and containers of weapons to help Moscow.

According to the General Staff, these missiles were intended for three planned strikes in March and April 2025.

Ukraine’s Defense Forces destroyed 96 air-launched cruise missiles in a drone strike on the Engels-2 airbase of the Russian Aerospace Forces on March 20, 2025.

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the destruction was partly due to a secondary detonation, significantly impacting Russia’s missile stockpile.

The latest strikes come as Russia continues its attacks on Ukrainian cities, despite ongoing international efforts to find a quick resolution to the full-scale war, now in its fourth year.

Russian drones struck the northeastern city of Kharkiv on the evening of March 26, injuring at least eight people and causing significant damage, local officials said.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that Russian forces launched at least 12 Shahed drones within an hour, targeting residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, vehicles, and outbuildings.

Igor Mazepa swoops in on high gas demand in Ukraine, founding a new energy-generating company and buying an ex-Chinese one.

Ukrainian investment banker Igor Mazepa invested in two companies in the energy sector within three months, buying the Ukrainian subsidiary of the Chinese company Beiken and setting up his own energy-generating company, Forbes Ukraine reported.

Earlier this year, Mazepa’s investment company Concorde Capital purchased the oil and gas service company Beiken Energy Ukraine, a subsidiary of Chinese Beiken Energy Group. The company specializes in engineering services in oil and gas, coal mine methane extraction management, coalbed methane development, clean utilization of coal, and chemical products and services.

Ever since Belarus’ leadership announced in March 2023 it was to take possession of Russian short-range nuclear weapons, speculation has grown as to where they’re stored.

When Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko announced in March 2023 that Moscow was to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, the search for where the missiles might be stored began.

In May 2023, Viktor Khrenin, the Belarus defense minister, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, signed an agreement in public for the storage of Russian nuclear warheads.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The details of the ceasefire agreements on energy strikes and maritime operations in the Black Sea that US, Ukrainian, and Russian officials reached on March 24 and 25 remain unclear.
• Russia and Ukraine exchanged accusations of strikes and ceasefire violations, although the ceasefire terms remain unclear.
• Russian officials explicitly rejected US President Donald Trump’s recent suggestion that the United States could be involved in operating the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
• The European Union (EU) will likely maintain sanctions on Russia despite Russian demands for Western sanctions relief as preconditions for a temporary ceasefire with Ukraine in the Black Sea.
• Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast, near Toretsk, Velyka Novosilka, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced in Belgorod Oblast and near Toretsk.
• Russia continues to reorganize drone detachments into new units, likely as part of an ongoing effort to establish the Russian Unmanned Systems Force (USF).

According to the state-provided interview, there are no problems with intel or accuracy, but the F-16s still can’t get close enough to Russian carriers of aerial guided bombs, their top priority.

Ukraine’s Air Force released what they billed as the first-ever interview with a Ukrainian F-16 pilot on Wednesday.

The unnamed pilot praised the Western-provided aircraft, noting that, contrary to reports, pilots such as himself have experienced no problems receiving real-time intelligence data. However, he lamented that they still cannot get close enough to their number-one target: Russian air-launched guided munitions.

Far-right Congressional Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene snaps at UK reporter asking about Defense Secretary leaking highly classified info, as Trump team gets testy and deflects some blame toward Hegseth.

Republican blood pressure in Washington is running even higher than usual this week as they are forced to respond to questions about highly classified defense information sloppily leaked to a reporter earlier this month on a group chat.

One of President Donald Trump’s fiercest attack dogs, US Congressional Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) barked menacingly on Wednesday at a British reporter trying to ask a question about the role that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth played in the breach.