These are the key developments on day 1,104 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Here is the situation on Tuesday, March 4:
Fighting
Ukraine’s military said it destroyed 46 of 83 Russian drones launched at the country overnight. Another 31 drones were reportedly “lost” and failed to reach their targets.
A drone attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa damaged energy infrastructure in the area, triggering power and heat supply interruptions in the city, regional Governor Oleh Kiper wrote. Odesa’s Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said the attack knocked out three boiler plants.
A Ukrainian drone attack targeted an industrial enterprise in Russia’s southern city of Syzran, the governor of the Samara region said on Tuesday, adding that there were no casualties. A Russian Telegram channel claimed that the Syzran oil refinery was hit in the attack.
A Ukrainian mass drone attack in the Chertovsky district of Russia’s southern Rostov region set fire to an oil pipeline, said regional Governor Yury Slyusar. He later said falling debris had also triggered a fire at a storage facility of an industrial site in the area.
A Russian missile attack on an army training ground near the village of Cherkaske killed several soldiers, the AFP news agency reported, citing a Ukrainian military source. Although an official death toll was not released, Ukrainian military blogger Yury Butusov said about 30-40 soldiers were killed and 90 others injured.
Moscow confirmed that Kyiv returned 33 civilians who were displaced from the western Kursk region after Ukraine took over the territory. Russia’s human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova said the handover was possible with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross and mediation by Belarus.
Economy
The Reuters news agency reported a major crash in Ukraine’s international bonds after the public clash between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Politics and diplomacy
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal has announced that his country was ready to sign a planned deal on extracting strategically important minerals with the US “at any time” after Washington said it was suspending military support.
Shmygal also said that security guarantees from the US were of existential importance for both Ukraine and Europe, hours after Washington announced it was suspending military support to the war-torn country.
Ukraine should automatically become a NATO member if Russia breaches any ceasefire deal, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said, echoing an influential US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
France’s economy minister Eric Lombard voiced opposition to seizing Russian assets to fund European military spending, saying such assets cannot be seized as it “would be contrary to international agreements.”
The Kremlin said the next round of Russia-US talks on ending the invasion of Ukraine is unlikely to happen before the embassies of both countries resume normal operations.
AFP quoted Zelenskyy as saying that it would “not be simple” to replace him as Kyiv’s leader. However, he reiterated his willingness to step down in exchange for Ukraine’s entry into NATO as a member country.
The United Kingdom’s armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, told Times Radio that no agreement has been made on what a truce would look like in Ukraine. AFP also reported, citing a government source, that “a one-month truce has not been agreed”.
A spokesperson for the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, said the European countries were looking at several options to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. However, the spokesperson did not provide details on these options.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticised the London security summit and said the pledges made by European leaders to increase funding for Kyiv would only allow hostilities to continue, instead of contributing to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Peskov also said the Oval Office fight between Trump and Zelenskyy shows how challenging it would be to reach a settlement with Ukraine. Accusing Zelenskyy of not wanting peace and demonstrating “a complete lack of diplomatic abilities”, Peskov said, “someone should make him want peace.”
Zelenskyy told UK media that a ceasefire without security guarantees would not bring a sustainable end to Russia’s invasion of his country. “It will be a failure for everyone if Ukraine is forced into a ceasefire without serious security guarantees,” he said.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko sent a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s chief Rafael Grossi, calling on the IAEA to comply with Ukraine’s laws. Galushchenko’s letter reminded the agency that staff rotations could not take place without permission from Ukrainian authorities.
Grossi defended the rotation through Russian-occupied territory and said the only reason they did this was because he was responsible for the security of his employees.
Starmer told the UK Parliament that a minerals deal between the US and Ukraine would not be “enough on its own” without security guarantees.
A deal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine is “still very, very far away”, Zelenskyy said, adding that he expects to keep receiving US support despite his recent spat with Trump.
Trump said he would “not put up with” Zelenskyy’s stance on a possible ceasefire with Russia after Zelenskyy said an end to the war was very far off. “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
In response, Zelenskyy said in a social media post that he wants to end the war as “soon as possible” and added that “it is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war”.
Trump said he would provide an update on the minerals deal on Tuesday and reiterated that Zelenskyy should be more appreciative of Washington’s support to Kyiv.
Trump’s administration has paused financing any new weapons sales to Ukraine after his escalating feud with Zelenskyy. Reuters reported, citing a White House official, that Washington is reviewing its aid to ensure the US is contributing to peace.
