Kievan Rus'

Ads costing $3.6 million have sought aid for Ukraine from seven countries of the Western Balkans since Russia's invasion a year ago, a BIRN analysis shows.

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the military-civilian administration of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, told Sputnik that these are Soviet fighters and helicopters, which the countries of the former Warsaw Pact handed over to Ukraine, as well as a part that the Americans withdrew from Afghanistan.

Russia agreed on March 13 to extend the Ukraine grain export deal, but only for a further 60 days, in a proposal criticised by Kiev.

Following talks with the United Nations in Geneva, Moscow said it would not oppose prolonging the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative aimed at easing the global food crisis, as had been feared.

Day 380 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Iran has secretly supplied Russia with large quantities of weapons, rockets and mortar shells for the war in Ukraine and plans to send more, a security source told Sky News.
It states that two Russian-flagged cargo ships sailed from an Iranian port in January towards Russia via the Caspian Sea with a cargo of approximately 100 million bullets and about 300,000 shells.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday vowed a decisive response to any country threatening Russia and lashed out against Germany for promising tanks for Kiev.

His threats came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the Kremlin was consolidating its forces for a fresh offensive.

He claims that Russia has prepared thousands of soldiers and could "try" to mark the anniversary of the launch of the war, the BBC reports.
The new offensive on that day would also mark the Russian holiday of defenders of the fatherland, February 23, which is dedicated to the Russian army. Reznikov said Moscow had mobilized about 500,000 troops for a potential offensive.

Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at Council of Foreign Relations (CFR), and Michael Kimmage, a history professor at the Catholic University of America and a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, discuss the current status of the war in Ukraine, assessing the strategies that Russia, Ukraine and the West are pursuing.



In other news, Polish Leopard tanks are finally on their way to Ukraine; the second round of the Czech presidential race looks to be going Pavel's way; and a Slovak referendum on shortening the parliamentary term fails but the country will still get snap elections.

As he pointed out, "Putin does not want negotiations because he does not want peace".
Zelensky said that he is convinced that Ukraine is only the first step.