Zelensky warns Belarus is being drawn into Putin’s war

WorldPolitics
24 Mar 2026 • 4:58 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

image is not available

  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims Russia plans to establish four ground control stations for long-range attack drones in Belarus, citing information from Ukraine's military intelligence service.
  • Ukraine reported that its forces largely repelled a renewed Russian offensive, inflicting over 6,000 casualties on Russian troops during four days of intensive assault operations.
  • Drone attacks caused the shutdown of Russia's Saratov oil refinery and damage to the port of Primorsk, while a Russian drone strike killed a passenger on an electric train in Ukraine's Kharkiv region.
  • Ukraine's SBU identified a Hungarian intelligence officer as the alleged leader of a spy ring in western Ukraine, accused of recruiting former servicemen to gather military and political intelligence.
  • The UK reiterated its support for Ukraine at the UN Security Council, noting Russia's escalating drone use and significant civilian casualties, with a UN official describing the conflict's violence as 'worse than ever'.

IN FULL