\u2018Ukraine has expertise concerning sea waterways, and the defence and reopening of maritime traffic,\u2019 says president. What we know on day 1,500<\/p>\n
Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered on Thursday to provide Ukraine\u2019s expertise in dealing with freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to those countries considering how to keep the strait of Hormuz open<\/strong> amid the conflict in the Middle East. The Ukraine president, speaking in his nightly video address, said the foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, had taken part in a virtual meeting devoted to reopening the strait of Hormuz, attended by about 40 countries. \u201cUkraine has relevant expertise concerning sea waterways, and the defence and reopening of maritime traffic,\u201d he said. \u201cIf [our] partners are ready to act, we will consider how we can strengthen them, how we can apply our expertise, knowledge and technological potential.\u201d<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s army recorded no territorial gains on the frontline in Ukraine in March, for the first time in two and half years, AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed<\/strong>. The Russian army\u2019s advances have been slowing since late 2025 due to Kyiv\u2019s localised breakthroughs in the south-east, and losing ground in March and February on the southern section of the frontline, between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, the analysis showed. Across the entire frontline, Ukrainian forces managed to recapture 9 sq km in March.<\/p>\n North Korea\u2019s leader, Kim Jong-un, gave \u201cfield guidance\u201d at the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations, which is under construction , state media KCNA said.<\/strong> The museum in Pyongyang will be a place to commemorate the fallen soldiers sent to support the Russian army in the war in Ukraine. The construction of the museum is almost complete and Kim said the opening ceremony would be held in mid-April, marking the first anniversary of the deployment of the North Korean soldiers.<\/p>\n Six Ukrainian children will be returned from Russia to their families in Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday<\/strong>, citing efforts by Melania Trump to expedite their return. A seventh Ukrainian child will also be returned to their family later this month, the first lady\u2019s office said in a statement. Ukraine says almost 20,000 children have been illegally sent to Russia and Belarus, where they are sometimes subject to military training and forced to fight against their own country\u2019s troops.<\/p>\n Russian strikes across Ukraine on Thursday killed at least two people<\/strong> and wounded dozens, officials said, as Moscow stepped up its attacks amid stalled peace talks. In the south-eastern Kherson region, Russia attacked \u201cwith artillery, mortars and UAVs\u201d, the regional prosecutor\u2019s office said on social media. A 42-year-old man was killed when a drone hit a civilian car, and 16 others \u2013 including a teenage boy and three police officers \u2013 were wounded in air attacks and artillery shelling, it added. In the Chernihiv region, north of the capital Kyiv, Russia attacked with a ballistic missile, the head of Chernihiv\u2019s military administration, Dmytro Bryzhynsky, said on Telegram.<\/p>\n Russian forces maintained a daylong barrage of drone strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine\u2019s second largest city, on Thursday<\/strong>, injuring at least two people, local officials said. Kharkiv\u2019s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, posted reports on Telegram throughout the day and well into the evening, noting strikes in four city districts. One city official said there had been at least 20 drone strikes. He said some had triggered fires and two people had been injured in an evening attack, including an eight-year-old girl.<\/p>\n Russian forces carried out 129 attacks on Ukrainian gas and heating facilities during the recent 151-day heating season, the state oil and gas firm Naftogaz said<\/strong> on Thursday. \u201cThe Russians hit pipelines, gas production, underground storage facilities, heating systems \u2013 everything that Ukrainians depend on for heat and gas,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n