NOTE: LINKS WERE ADDED LATER THAN USUAL TODAY.

For today, links to reports from Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Tass, and the Kyiv Independent; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.)  — MCM

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EU agrees to 5-bn-euro package to fund arms for Ukraine. From AFP. EU member states agreed today to add five billion euros ($5.5 billion) to a central fund to pay for weapons sent to Ukraine The move . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian drones damage Russian oil refineries in second day of attacks, by Guy Faulconbridge and Lidia Ke | Reuters MOSCOW — Ukraine struck Russian oil refineries in a second day of heavy drone attacks today, causing a fire at Rosneft’s biggest refinery in what President Vladimir Putin said was an attempt to disrupt his country’s presidential election this week. Russia and . . . READ MORE . . .

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Kiev loses 245 troops in Donetsk area over past day — Russia’s top brass. From Tass. MOSCOW — The Ukrainian military lost roughly 245 troops, a tank, and an air defense system in battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk area over the past day, according to the Russian Defense Ministry’s latest data on the special military operation in Ukraine. READ MORE . . .

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Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih kills 5, injures dozens, by Martin Fornusek and Olena Goncharova | The Kyiv Independent  A Russian attack against the city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on March 12 started a fire in a residential building and five people, said Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city’s military administration, and other officials. At least three missile hits . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine’s army chief says battle situation ‘difficult.’ From AFP. Ukraine’s army chief said today the situation on the battlefield was “difficult” and that Russian forces could be poised to strike deep into Ukrainian lines in the eastern Donetsk region. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky said he had visited two . . . READ MORE . . .