US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with reporters as he arrives in France for the summit of G7 Foreign Ministers, March 27, 2026

Friday’s Coverage: Zelensky in Saudi Arabia

UPDATE 1150 GMT:

A major Russian oil terminal has stopped accepted shipments from refineries after damage from a Ukrainian drone attack.

The Baltic port of Ust-Luga halted the intake on Wednesday after a railway overpass, used for unloading petroleum products from tank cars, was damaged.

The nearby port of Primorsk stopped taking diesel fuel on Monday after another Ukrainian drone assault.

The Ust-Luga terminal is one of Russia’s main fuel export hubs. It has a throughput capacity of 30 million tons per year, including 19 million tons of heavy petroleum products.

Refineries using Ust-Luga have urgently begun searching for alternative routes.

The Russian firm Novatek has suspended stable gas condensate processing and naphtha exports through Ust-Luga. The timeline for the resumption of operations and the export of petroleum products is still unknown.

UPDATE 1138 GMT:

At least five civilians have been murdered and at least 13 injured by Russia’s overnight attacks.

Air defenses intercepted 252 of 273 drones.

But two people were killed and at least 11 injured in Odesa by a swarm of 60 drones. Emergency services continue to search through rubble.

The Russians targeted a maternity hospital, educational institutions, residential buildings, enterprises, and port and critical infrastructure.

In Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine, two men were slain and two wounded as an industrial site was hit and set afire.

In the Poltava region in central Ukraine, one person was killed as Russian strikes hit homes and an industrial facility.

Other Russian assaults over the last 24 hours murdered two civilians and injured 17.

In the Zaporizhzhia region in the south, one person was killed and two wounded amid 760 attacks damaging infrastructure and dozens of homes and cars.

In the Donetsk region in the east, one civilian slain and six injured.

Casualties were also reported in the Kherson and Sumy regions.

UPDATE 1047 GMT:

After his visit to Saudi Arabia, with signature of an agreement on defense cooperation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting leaders in the UAE, including President Mohammed bin Zayed.

We discussed the security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market. For all normal states, it is important to ensure stability and protect lives amid today’s threats.

Ukraine has relevant expertise in this area – our cities, unfortunately, have been under daily attack for four years of full-scale war. Ukrainians have developed an appropriate protection system that delivers a significant interception rate against enemy drones and missiles.

This systematic approach and integration of experience is exactly what we are offering to our partners.

Zelensky also met Ukrainian experts sent to the UAE for anti-drone operations amid the US-Israel War and Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone strikes.

UPDATE 0647 GMT:

One civilian has been murdered and at least 10 injured, including a child, by overnight Russian drone attacks on Odesa in southern Ukraine.

Drones struck the roof of a maternity hospital and three “educational institutions,” in the Prymorskyi district of the city. An apartment building was hit, with “partial destruction” between the 4th and 5th floors.

Of the 10 injured, at least two in serious condition.

No casualties were reported at the maternity hospital as staff and patients evacuated to an underground shelter.

Two civilians were murdered Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine by a strike on an industrial facility.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted:

Each such strike proves that Russia has no intention of ending this war. That is why any easing of pressure on it is dangerous. And coordinated efforts to protect people and lives will help us, help our country’s defense and our diplomacy.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denied that the Trump Administration is demanding Ukraine withdrawal from the Donetsk region in the east of the country, in return for any American security guarantees.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters of the demand, as Ukraine-Russia-US talks are suspended because of the US-Israel War on Iran.

He emphasized that Ukraine will not give way to the pressure: “I would very much like the American side to understand that the eastern part of our country is part of our security guarantees.”

See also Ukraine War, Day 1,492: US Links Security Guarantees to Kyiv’s Abandonment of Donetsk Region

Rubio declared on Friday:

That’s a lie. And I saw him say that. And it’s unfortunate he would say that because he knows that’s not true and that’s not what he was told.

Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff has long supported Russia’s attempt to seize all of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, together known as the Donbas.

Ukraine and its European partners pushed back the demand. However, the Kremlin is insisting that it be given the 20% of Donetsk held by Kyiv, a strategic area known as the “Fortress Belt”.

Rubio insisted:

What [Zelensky] was told is the obvious: security guarantees are not going to kick in until there’s an end to a war, because otherwise you’re getting yourself involved in the war said.

That was not attached to “unless he gives up territory”.