Russian attack on Kherson kills 4, including 2 elderly women
Russians killed four people in the Korabelnyi District of Kherson city on the afternoon of March 1, 2026, the Kherson Oblast Military Administration stated.
Authorities initially reported that two elderly women were killed near the entrance of a residential building.
Two people were taken to a hospital in critical condition: a woman, 85, and a man, 63, with blast injuries and multiple shrapnel wounds to the head and torso.
However, later, authorities stated that both had died in the hospital.
To provide background, Russian attacks on February 28 killed two civilians and injured at least 14 others across several Ukrainian regions, including Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, and Kharkiv.
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported on X that Russia launched more than 14,670 guided aerial bombs, 738 missiles, and nearly 19,000 attack drones against Ukraine over the three winter months.
The Belgian army has seized an oil tanker belonging to the Russian shadow fleet. The vessel detained by Belgium has been on a European list of ships since October 2025, whose activities are to be “restricted” on the grounds that they “form part of the shadow fleet of oil tankers or contribute to Russia’s energy revenues,” as Russia “depends on energy revenues to finance its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
The Ethera is described as a vessel transporting “crude oil, petroleum products, or mineral materials originating from or exported from Russia, while engaging in irregular and high-risk maritime shipping […].”
Commenting on Belgium’s decision to seize a tanker from Russia’s shadow fleet, Zelenskyy stated on X that it is appropriate to modernize European legislation so that tankers transporting Russian oil can not only be detained but also confiscated.
Ukrainian experts point out that countries including China, North Korea, Hungary, Slovakia, Iran, and Brazil assist Moscow in killing Ukrainians in its war against Ukraine by funding the Russian budget through trade.
EU ambassadors have agreed on the text of the 20th sanctions package against Russia, but the final decision remains blocked by Budapest and Bratislava.
Previously, the Ukrainian OSINT Varta team, in collaboration with the Lex Talionis project, has published an interactive map containing data on more than 6,000 enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex and their 1.2 million employees. The interactive map provides descriptions of activities and specific developments for each enterprise, as well as a categorization system that allows filtering by type.
Previously, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds stated that Western sanctions against Russia have a long-term impact on the country’s military economy.
Over the last three and a half years, China has become a critically important partner for the Russian Federation. While Beijing officially declares its neutrality, Western intelligence and analytical studies indicate otherwise. For instance, China does not supply weapons directly to Russia, but it provides critically important components, including machinery, microelectronics, specialized chemicals, optics, gunpowder, and ammunition components.
Donald Trump announced several days ago that the United States would lower tariffs on Indian goods in exchange for India halting its imports of Russian oil.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Trump but did not explicitly confirm the deal or disclose further details.
According to energy data firm Kpler, purchases have declined in recent months but still averaged approximately 1.2 million barrels per day in January.
Meanwhile, the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that in 2024 China increased sales of ammonium perchlorate — a key ingredient used to produce solid propellant for Iskander missiles. This assistance enabled Russia to triple its ballistic missile production, the report stated. Beijing’s support has bolstered Russia’s defense industrial base, enabling Russian forces to launch salvos of 13 to 18 Iskander-M ballistic missiles in 2026.
Overall imports from China have grown to represent one-third of Russia’s total imports, while Russian oil exports now account for 75% of all oil purchased by Beijing. Analysts specifically highlighted defense-related imports, which provided the Russian military-industrial complex with machine tools, components, and raw materials for weapons manufacturing.
Furthermore, Russia’s defense industry also received computer chips, machine tools, radars, and sensors from China, according to CSIS. These goods are part of a list of 50 items aiding weapons production, effectively compensating for Russia’s limited manufacturing capacity in its defense sector. Other areas of support include the supply of drone hulls, lithium batteries, and fiber-optic cables. CSIS reported that Russian imports from China rose from $190 billion in 2022 to $250 billion in 2024.
In 2024, then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that 70% of heavy industrial equipment and 90% of all microelectronics are sourced from China, which then flows into Russia.
Furthermore, according to recent NATO intelligence data, 80% of all Russian drones consist of Chinese parts.
According to The Telegraph newspaper, Chinese firms supplied sanctioned Russian companies with at least £47 million ($57.4 million USD) worth of parts between 2023 and 2024. Almost a quarter of the value of these supplies went to firms that produce Shahed-type drones.
Moreover, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine stated that China is also providing intelligence to Russia. The Kremlin used this data to prepare missile strikes, particularly against objects belonging to foreign investors, though the specific targets were not clarified. China denies these accusations.
Following the imposition of Western sanctions, Beijing has become a key supplier to Russia of cars, clothing, raw materials, and a range of other goods. In 2023, Russia-China trade turnover set a historic record, exceeding $240 billion, which is more than 60% higher than before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Chinese customs data.
Reuters also reported that China is buying oil and gas from Russia. The average daily volume of oil is more than two million barrels per day. During Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing, the countries signed a document for the supply of 106 billion cubic meters of gas per year to China.
Reuters also reported that tens of thousands of cars are being exported from China to Russia under gray-market schemes that often circumvent Western and Asian government sanctions and automakers’ commitments to exit the Russian market, according to registration data reviewed by Reuters and interviews with five people involved in the trade.
