(KYIV) – Air raid sirens sounded across Kyiv on Monday morning as Russian forces launched another drone assault on the Ukrainian capital during the morning rush hour. Ukrainian air defences intercepted up to 30 Iranian designed Shahed drones, according to early reports, preventing wider damage in the city.
The attack came as fighting intensified across multiple fronts and after a weekend in which Ukrainian forces carried out drone strikes against Russian military and energy infrastructure.
Earlier operations targeted several facilities linked to Russia’s war effort, including oil depots, pumping stations, radar systems and an S 400 air defence launcher in occupied Crimea and southern Russia.
One of the facilities struck was an oil storage depot in Labinsk in Russia’s Krasnodar region. The site lies roughly 100 kilometres from the Black Sea coast and about 345 kilometres south east of occupied Crimea. Ukrainian drones also reportedly hit an oil pumping station elsewhere in Krasnodar region.
On Saturday night Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in the same region, setting the facility on fire. Port Kavkaz was also attacked, leaving three people wounded and damaging a technical vessel. Ukrainian forces additionally targeted Russian radar systems and an S 400 launcher on the occupied Crimean peninsula overnight on Sunday.
Russian officials said Moscow’s air defences had intercepted around 250 Ukrainian drones approaching the Russian capital over the weekend, though the claims could not be independently verified.
Elsewhere, tensions continued to rise in global security discussions.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it was in Europe’s interest to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remained open for shipping. Her remarks came ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“Well clearly all these security theatres are very much interlinked when it comes to the capabilities that are needed in Ukraine or in the Middle East and also our attention,” Kallas said.
“The actors or our adversaries are also using this. So it is very clear. It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and that is why we are discussing what we can do from the European side.”
Meanwhile Donald Trump warned that NATO could face what he described as a “bad future” if allies refused to cooperate with efforts to reopen the strategic shipping route.
Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, Trump urged countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom to help secure the waterway by deploying mine sweeping vessels.
Trump argued that Europe and China depend heavily on oil supplies from the Gulf region and therefore have a direct interest in restoring safe passage for tankers that remain stranded because of ongoing hostilities.
The United States president also suggested he might delay a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month if Beijing does not cooperate.
So far Japan and Australia have indicated that they do not plan to send vessels to the Middle East.
Political tensions were also rising in Hungary ahead of a closely watched general election.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and opposition leader Péter Magyar both called supporters onto the streets of Budapest in rival demonstrations designed to show political strength four weeks before the vote.
After 16 years in power Orbán faces a serious electoral challenge. Polls indicate he is trailing despite claims by critics that Russian intelligence has attempted to support his position. Opposition figures accuse his government of widespread corruption while the European Union continues efforts to recover funds it says were misused.
Large rallies were organised by both political camps in the Hungarian capital.
The governing Fidesz party staged what it called a “march for peace”, repeating Orbán’s message that external enemies including Ukraine threaten Hungary’s security.
At the rally supporters displayed banners reading “We will not be colonised by Ukraine”, despite no evidence that Kyiv has made any such claim.
Orbán has also accused Ukraine without providing evidence of plotting to interfere in Hungary’s elections and to sabotage Hungarian energy infrastructure.
“If we work tirelessly for the next 28 days without compromise and without self directed arrogance then we will achieve a bright victory,” Orbán told supporters.
“A victory of such brightness that even Brussels and Kyiv can only blink watching.”
Later in the day Péter Magyar led a rival march to Heroes Square along one of Budapest’s main boulevards.
Magyar’s Tisza movement has focused its campaign on domestic issues, criticising what it describes as 16 years of economic mismanagement and corruption under Fidesz rule. Supporters chanted the slogan “Now or never, the time to end Fidesz rule”.
“The ghost of Orbán is now the past and the future is yours, free Hungarian citizens,” Magyar told supporters.
“Those who choose Tisza will choose a working, humane, European, proud, peaceful and serene Hungary.”
The rival demonstrations were among the largest public gatherings seen in Hungary in recent years, with hundreds of thousands of participants. The country is scheduled to hold general elections on 12 April.
In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that the country could face a serious political crisis after President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a major European Union defence loan.
The programme known as SAFE, or Security Action for Europe, would have provided Poland with 43 billion euros in low interest loans to strengthen its military. At current exchange rates the amount is roughly 47 billion US dollars.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside the presidential palace in Warsaw after the veto, chanting that they wanted safety and security.
One demonstrator said: “I got really upset. I had secretly hoped that he would sign it after all that he would despite everything put the greater good of the nation first rather than political considerations.”
Nawrocki argued that the EU could suspend funding through conditionality rules that he believes threaten Polish sovereignty.
“SAFE is a mechanism where Brussels through the so called conditionality principle can arbitrarily withhold funding,” he said. “Yet our country would still be obligated to repay the debt. Security with conditions is not true security.”
Tusk criticised the decision on social media and warned that forces seeking to push Poland out of the European Union were gaining influence.
“Polexit is a real threat today,” he wrote. “Those who want to destroy the Union are Russia, American MAGA and the European right wing led by Orbán. For Poland it would be a catastrophe. I will do everything to stop them.”
Tusk said his government would attempt to secure the funds through alternative measures despite the presidential veto.
“The president’s veto will not stop us,” he said. “We will pass a resolution that will ensure that this money reaches you anyway.”
However existing legislation means funds obtained through the government’s alternative proposal could be restricted to military spending, potentially leaving border security forces and critical infrastructure without additional resources.
Beyond Europe, Kazakhstan’s election commission said more than 87 percent of voters supported a new national constitution in a referendum held on Sunday.
Turnout reached about 73 percent, surpassing the legal threshold required to validate the vote. Authorities described the referendum as a historic event and announced that 15 March will be celebrated annually as Constitution Day.
The new constitution reorganises the political system, including a shift from a bicameral to a unicameral parliament and the restoration of the vice presidency, an office abolished in the 1990s.
However some analysts warn that the reforms may strengthen presidential powers.
According to reports from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, authorities detained several opposition journalists covering the referendum.
In France the first round of municipal elections also produced significant political shifts.
The far right National Rally performed strongly though it fell short of the decisive victory it had hoped for. Many of its candidates will now face run off contests under France’s electoral system, which historically favours more moderate contenders.
The far left party France Unbound also recorded gains in a number of urban areas, drawing support from younger voters and working class communities.
President Emmanuel Macron and his centre right allies struggled to maintain their support in several major cities as some voters moved toward far right candidates.
Security concerns were also a focus at an international summit in Oslo where Canada and the Nordic countries pledged closer cooperation in the Arctic.
At the meeting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that Russia remains the largest physical security threat in the region.
“We are all facing a growing list of challenges to Arctic security,” Carney said.
“These challenges interact with changing technologies and conflicts both actual and virtual that are moving closer to all of us. The biggest physical security threat in the Arctic is Russia.”
He added that Arctic nations must work together within NATO to protect their economies, secure critical resources and defend democratic values against authoritarian pressure.
“We are open liberal modern democracies in a world where autocratic forces are moving ahead and weaponising critical resources,” Carney said. “These are issues that matter to our countries.”
In entertainment news, the 98th Academy Awards concluded after a ceremony marked by major wins for two films.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s film One Battle After Another won six Oscars including best picture and best director. Sean Penn received the award for best supporting actor while the film also won prizes for adapted screenplay, editing and casting.
The historical vampire drama Sinners directed by Ryan Coogler won four awards including original screenplay, original score and cinematography.
Actor Michael B. Jordan won the Oscar for best actor for his dual role in the film.
The award for best actress went to Jessie Buckley for her performance in Hamnet directed by Chloé Zhao.
The animated short film award went to The Girl Who Cried Pearls directed by Paul Machik Sturbowski and Chris Lavis.
Our main topics today:
– Ukraine under attack
Kyiv faced a massive drone strike by Russia on Monday morning. Air defenses reportedly intercepted up to 30 Shahed drones, while Ukrainian forces targeted Russian oil depots, pumping stations, radar systems, and an S-400 launcher across Crimea and southern Russia over the weekend. Moscow reported shooting down around 250 Ukrainian drones.
– EU on Strait of Hormuz
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas emphasized Europe’s interest in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
– Trump on NATO and Gulf Security
President Donald Trump warned NATO of a “bad future” if allies fail to cooperate on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. He called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the U.K. to deploy minesweeping vessels, with only Japan and Australia responding negatively so far.
Host: Marie Kato-Kmieć
