Ukraine slows enemy advances, liberates land, drains Russia’s war chest | Russia-Ukraine war News

Ukraine has devastated Russia’s oil export capability over the previous week as its floor forces have stopped Russian advances of their tracks and reclaimed occupied territory.

According to 1 estimate, Ukraine has halved the Russian fee of advance prior to now three months.

At the identical time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has concluded agreements with a number of Gulf states to export Ukrainian drone know-how in return for joint drone manufacturing assist.

“We already have agreements with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. We are working with Jordan. We are in communication with Kuwait, now also Iraq and Bahrain,” Zelenskyy mentioned in a Wednesday night video handle this week.

“They are interested in our experience in countering drones and building a layered system-wide defense against modern threats,” he added.

The fee at which Ukraine can produce drones has been key to its success in holding again Russian advances and reclaiming occupied territory, commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii mentioned.

“In March, the number of combat sorties of drone interceptors and the number of targets destroyed increased by almost 55% compared to February,” Syrskii wrote on the Telegram messaging platform on Monday.

Syrskii has beforehand mentioned first-person view (FPV), remote-controlled drones at the moment are answerable for 90 p.c of Russian casualties.

On Thursday, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov mentioned Ukraine had additionally “systematically increased the purchases of engineering mines and ammunition for drones.”

He added that purchases within the first three months of 2026 equaled greater than half the purchases in 2025 and predicted they might be “significantly higher” by the tip of the yr.

“Ammunition for UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] allows for targeted strikes against infantry and light equipment without using expensive large-caliber ammunition. They hit the enemy where other means are ineffective, and save resources for more complex targets,” Fedorov wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine has turn out to be Europe’s floor zero for drone warfare innovation. Fedorov mentioned he had witnessed the testing of a brand new era of bomber drones able to flying 20km (12 miles) by digital warfare programs and carrying payloads of tens of kilograms.

On March 26, Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces Command reported that it had eradicated a Russian advance close to the border of the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk areas and liberated the village of Berezove.

Syrskii mentioned that whereas Russia continues to advance general, Ukraine has reclaimed 470sq km (180sq miles) of occupied territory this yr, marking its first territorial positive factors since 2023. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based assume tank, has cited proof to assist the liberation of at the very least 334.06sq km (128.98sq miles) however mentioned its “conservative mapping methodology underestimates Ukrainian advances.”

The ISW assessed the Russian fee of advance as having slowed by two-thirds over the previous 18 months.

Russian forces superior at a fee of 14.9sq km (5.76sq miles) every day from October 2024 to March 2025, the ISW saidin contrast with 10.66sq km (4.16sq miles) a day from March 1, 2025, to October 1 and 5.5sq km (2.12sq miles) a day within the first three months of 2026.

The stress on Russia from mounting losses was underlined by the truth that the Ryazan area’s governor, Pavel Malkov, signed a decree on March 20 forcing companies with at the very least 150 staff to pick out two to 5 staff to signal contracts with the Russian navy.

Zelenskyy mentioned on Friday that the front-line state of affairs is one of the best it has been in 10 months. “The offensive they were planning for March was thwarted by the actions of our armed forces,” he mentioned. “That is why the Russians will now simply step up their assault operations.”

Ukraine batters Russia’s war machine

Ukraine began placing Russia’s two oil export terminals on the Baltic Sea on the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk on the night time of March 20-21 to counteract Russia’s windfall from rising oil prices.

During the previous week, Ukraine has continued to pound Ust-Luga to the purpose of closing it on Wednesday.

Ukrainian drones struck Ust-Luga and Primorsk on March 27. Then Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne reported that Ust-Luga was struck once more on Sunday. Reports confirmed Ust-Luga was struck once more on Tuesday.

Russian opposition outlet Astra mentioned Ukraine additionally hit the Bashneft-Novoil Oil Refinery within the Russian republic of Bashkortostan on Thursday.

That was the day Russian oil firms warned patrons they might declare pressure majeure on provide contracts from main Baltic Sea ports.

Ust-Luga and Primorsk account for about 60 p.c of Russia’s oil export capability, in line with reviews. The closure of 1 will constrain the Kremlin’s capability to lift money for its war on Ukraine.

The Reuters information company estimated that Russia misplaced about 40 p.c of its oil export capability whereas Bloomberg put the determine at 43 p.c, saying exports had fallen from 4.072 million to 2.318 million barrels per day.

The assaults have additionally put stress on the home oil provide, Reuters reported.

“The Ust-Luga export bottleneck puts at risk oil processing at four of the biggest refineries in the European part of Russia – in Kirishi, Yaroslavl, Moscow and Ryazan,” Reuters mentioned. “In total they process around 55 million metric tons of crude oil per year (400,000 barrels per day), according to traders.”

Ukraine additionally immediately struck the Kirishi and Yaroslavl refineries on March 27 and Saturday.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak drafted a decision banning all refined petroleum exports from April 1 to July 31 in an effort to stabilize home costs. Russia banned petroleum exports in September as effectively in response to Ukrainian assaults on refineries.

Ukraine has additionally been hammering Russian ammunition manufacturing. The Ukrainian General Staff mentioned on Saturday that it had focused the Promsintez explosives plant within the Samara area with domestically produced Flamingo drones. It mentioned Promsintez produces 30,000 tons of navy explosives yearly. Geolocated footage confirmed explosions and plumes of smoke coming from the plant.

In a message on Telegram on Tuesday, the pinnacle of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, estimated that Russia has misplaced 45 p.c of its missile manufacturing capability by such strikes.

Are Russia and Iran studying from one another?

The Ukraine and Iran wars seem to have produced collaborations on the Russian aspect in addition to the Ukrainian.

Russia prior to now two weeks has begun to increase its drone strikes all through the day somewhat than limiting them in a single day, suggesting it has been imitating Iran’s ways in opposition to the United States and Israel.

Russia used this tactic for the primary time on March 24. On Wednesday, it launched 339 drones into Ukraine in a single day after which 361 in the course of the day. Ukraine shot down greater than 90 p.c of the drones.

The ISW mentioned the purpose is “to impose psychological effects on civilians by consistently forcing them to take shelter and keeping the country under constant alert.”

There had been reviews the Russians have been educating their ways to Iran and its proxies.

On March 27, Iran-backed Hezbollah used an FPV drone to strike an Israeli tank in Lebanon, Kovalenko reported – a tactic pioneered by Ukraine and later copied by Russia. “There is information that proxies may receive assistance from Russians, including instructors from the ‘Wagner’ private military company,” he mentioned in a social media publish.