Here is the situation on Thursday, March 6:

Fighting

• Russian forces attacked an energy facility in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine, the region’s energy firm DTEK said. According to the firm’s statement, this is the fourth attack on the energy infrastructure in the region within two weeks.
• Attacks in the Odesa region damaged “critical infrastructure” and resulted in power, water and heat outages in the Black Sea territory, regional authorities said. Odesa’s Governor Oleh Kiper said a 77-year-old man was killed by shrapnel in a village outside Odesa, while Oleksandr Prokudin, the Governor of Kherson, confirmed a 55-year-old was killed in Kherson city in a separate attack.
• Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down 115 of 181 Russian drones targeting Ukraine in an overnight attack. According to a military statement, an additional 55 drones were lost and failed to reach their targets. The fate of the remaining 11 drones was not disclosed.
• Russian news agencies reported Moscow’s Defence Ministry as saying Kremlin forces took control of the Pryvilne village in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

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• Russia’s Investigative Committee said Scott Rhys Anderson, a citizen of the United Kingdom, was sentenced to 19 years in prison after being convicted of a “terrorist act” and acting as a mercenary when he was captured while fighting for Ukraine.
• A Kremlin missile struck a building, killing two and injuring 28 more in central Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih city, regional Governor Serhiy Lysak said.

Politics & Diplomacy

• French spokeswoman Sophie Primas told LCI television that France, along with Europe, is trying to re-establish ties between the United States and Ukraine in hopes of reaching a “lasting and robust peace” in Kyiv.
• Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s letter to United States’ President Donald Trump expressing willingness to negotiate is a “generally positive” sign. However, Peskov questioned the practicality of negotiations, citing a 2022 presidential decree banning negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Putin announced that Russia has completed issuing Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens in Moscow controlled territories of Luhansk and Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Internal Minister Valdimir Kolokoltsev said 3.5 million people had been naturalised. Kyiv has branded this an illegal attempt to scrub the area of its Ukrainian identity.
• The Financial Times reported that US cut off intelligence sharing with Kyiv, which could hinder Ukraine’s military ability to target Russian forces.

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• CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox Business Network that Trump ordered the halt on intelligence cooperation, but that he thinks the pause “will go away” and US would continue to “work shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine.”
• White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News that Trump may reconsider US’ aid pause to Ukraine if peace talks are arranged and “confidence-building measures” are implemented.
• Zelenskyy said in a post on X that lasting peace in Ukraine is “entirely achievable” with coordinated effort under US leadership.
• Zelenskyy’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak said on X that he and Waltz spoke over the phone and discussed next steps towards peace in Ukraine, exchanged views on security and alignment of positions, and scheduled a meeting for US and Ukrainian officials for the near future.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said in a national address that European military forces could be sent to Kyiv once a peace deal is signed not to fight, but “to guarantee it is fully respected”. He also said European chiefs of staffs would meet in Paris next week to discussion post-peace deal support for Ukraine.
• The Netherlands pledged $3.8bn in support of Ukraine for the year 2026, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said, adding that the funds could be used in 2025 if necessary.