Bolton: It is completely justified to strike Iran to stop it from getting nuclear weapons.

This regime has shouted death to America and death to Israel for 47 years. It is a terrorist regime, and in January it machine-gunned 32,000 people in the streets. 1/ Bolton: We have tried for decades to change Iran’s behavior through diplomacy and economic pressure.

We have tried hard and always failed. When you cannot change an adversary’s behavior, you either put up with the threat or you change the regime. 2/

What Trump could do with Marines in Iran war

WSJ: The MEU could be used to raid or seize islands in the Strait of Hormuz that have been militarized by Tehran. It could also be part of an effort to seize Kharg Island, a launch point for 90 % of Iran's oil exports. 1/ WSJ: Military strategists say an attempt to capture Kharg would be extremely risky and could require more troops and equipment.

Marines could also escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz or play a role in seizing ships carrying Iranian oil. 2/

How Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz.

WSJ: Iran has militarized islands off its southern coast by building airstrips, missile tunnels, drone sites, hiding spots for attack boats, and mine-laying capabilities.

It helped Iran project power throughout the Gulf. 1/ Kharg Island. 20 miles off Iran's coast.

Tehran's major oil storage facilities and ports. It’s the launch point for 90% of the country's oil exports.

Iran gets a significant share of its revenue from oil, with shipments flowing to places like China. 2/

Russia is offering students up to $87,000 a year to drop university and fight in Ukraine. Positions available: drone operator, drone engineer, technical specialist. Most universities received recruitment quotas they must fill, writes Reuters. 1/ The full package at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok: first-year salary of $68,000, one-off payment of $31,000 after training, monthly allowance of $3,000, plus $2,500 from the university. Free accommodation. Fees covered on return. 2/

Zelenskyy: Putin can’t occupy Ukraine. The front hasn’t changed much in 90 days, and Ukraine is in its strongest position in the last 10 months.

To end the war, pressure must be on Putin, not Ukraine — his goal is to keep advancing, even toward the Baltics.

1/ Zelenskyy: Russia will always be in conflict with the US and the West — whether a cold war or active fighting like in Ukraine.

They won’t share intelligence with the US, including on Iran — and they haven’t.

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Sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska — founder of Rusal and a longtime Putin ally agreed to fund the war.

His refinery in Limerick, Ireland has been running throughout the war. Alumina exports from Ireland to Russia grew from $243M to $376M since 2022— The Moscow Times. 1/ None of this breaches EU rules.

The refinery is owned by Rusal, where Deripaska holds a quarter of shares. Sanctioning a person while leaving his corporate structures intact lets governments claim compliance while keeping the profits flowing. 2/

At 21, Dmytro Dovhenko shot down his first Russian Mi-24 helicopter near Pavlivka with a Stinger. He had been a train driver in the Carpathians two weeks before.

Today, at 25, he commands thousands of soldiers as chief sergeant of Ukraine's 32nd "Steel" Brigade — ArmyInfo. 1/ February 24, 2022. A friend from Lviv called: "Dimon, sirens. It started." Dmytro went to the recruitment office. They told him to go home — he was only 21.

He stood outside 20 minutes. Then walked back in: "Start the process. I want to serve."

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"I don't enjoy killing. I treat it as work that cleans Ukraine of Russians, like Colorado beetles." This is 47-year-old sniper Tetyana Khimion, callsign "Tango" — a former ballroom dance instructor from Sloviansk, writes Ukrainska Pravda. 1/ She started dancing at seven. In 2002 she opened her own club "Four Step" in Sloviansk. At eight months pregnant she showed children how to do cartwheels and splits. On the fifth day after giving birth she was back in the studio. Then she decided dancing was not enough. 2/

For seven days straight, Ukrainian drones have been hitting Russia's Baltic oil ports — Ust-Luga and Primorsk, thousands of kilometers from the front.

What started on March 23 has become a sustained campaign that has cut Russian oil exports by a factor of three. — United24. 1/ Primorsk loaded 4 tankers instead of 10. Ust-Luga loaded 2 instead of 8.

Russia's total seaborne oil exports fell from 4.1 million to 2.3 million barrels per day along a route that accounts for 28% of all Russian exports. 2/

Fukuyama: The U.S. does not now have a Trump doctrine.

Its behavior can best be explained not by a set of principles, but by the personal interests and preoccupations of the president.

Trump's head is full of resentments, anger, anecdotes, and made-up facts. 1/ Fukuyama: Trump relies on emissaries like Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, neither of whom have the standing or the knowledge to advise wisely.

Members of Congress, journalists and foreign leaders asking the administration what its goals are will never get a clear answer. 2/

Former Ukraine FM Kuleba: Ukraine's peace talks fall on deaf ears — as long as Russia has zero incentive for peace and the US doesn't change its approach.

More video calls won't help. Russia won't stop unless there are driving forces on their side. But it doesn’t want to stop.1/ Kuleba: If Putin attacks a NATO ally, Europe will focuse on its own war. Trump's mood toward NATO creates Ukraine's biggest risk.

Europe is our second largest weapons source.

If that's gone — we are in trouble.

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Russia declares ultimatum to Armenia.

Putin [to Armenian PM]: You can’t trade with both EU and EEU. You have to choose.

In the last few years, Armenia started exporting to EU 10 times more goods. We are fine with that. It’s your choice, who you will trade with.

1/ Pashinyan, Armenian PM: For now, our agendas in EU and EEU are compatible — and we will combine them for as long as possible.

When the process reaches a point where a decision is required, I am confident that the citizens of Armenia will make that decision.

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Trump: We’re controlling now 59% of the oil in the world. The problem with the Strait is one terrorist with a machine gun can make it not totally clean.

So let France do it. Let the European countries, South Korea, Japan and China do it. What the hell are we doing it for? 1/ Trump: We’re working with Venezuela and we have tremendous amounts of oil. We could do that with Iran very easily — just take their oil. I’d prefer that.

But people in the country say: just win, come home. And I’m okay with that too. 2/

Russia became the biggest beneficiary of the Iran war because of global markets and US focus shifted in its favor.

Oil jumped from $72 to more than $100/barrel. US eased sanctions pressure. Energy isolation was broken. And attention was flipped from Ukraine, Guardian. 1/ Oil price hike alone delivers multi-billion inflows to Moscow, easing pressure on a war budget that was forcing cuts in education and healthcare.

War in Iran is financing war in Ukraine. 2/

After 2022, Europe expelled 400 Russian intelligence officers. Russia's sabotage in Europe fails to stop weapons supplies, but Russians don’t give up, and form new networks — Babel.

The danger arrives when several strikes go simultaneous. European logistics freeze for weeks.

1/ NATO has four logistics vulnerabilities. European railways fail military standards. Trains carrying Ukraine aid still stuck at borders due to paperwork.

Russia recruits railway and warehouse workers across Europe. Any corrupt employee leaks train schedules and routes.

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For the first time, a Japanese company has invested in Ukraine's defense sector.

Tokyo-listed Terra Drone is partnering with Kharkiv-based Amazing Drones to scale up production of interceptor drones and expand globally — Kyiv Independent. 1/ Japan has long kept its investors away from Ukraine's defense industry.

Tokyo realized drones could reach Japan from Russia, China, or North Korea. Terra Drone CEO Toru Tokushige visited Ukraine, ignored his government's travel advice, and met over 100 defense tech companies 2/

NATO is rewriting Arctic defense around one lesson from Ukraine. Under drone-saturated skies, lost ground is hard to retake — Times.

Norway says it is moving from a withdrawal model to a not-an-inch policy in Finnmark — defend from the first centimetre, not return later. 1/ Russia’s war showed how hard it is for large forces to move under drone-heavy skies, and Trump cast doubt on automatic US reinforcement.

Cold Response 26 brought 32,000 troops from 14 allies into this new Arctic posture. 2/

Germany is moving to mass-produce Skynex and Skyranger gun-based air defense systems.

Shahed attacks push Europe toward the short-range anti-drone layer Ukraine already uses in combat, United24.

Rheinmetall targets up to 400 systems a year by 2027, or 8 a week. 1/ Skynex and Skyranger are built for cheap threats: Shaheds and cruise missiles. They use rapid-fire autocannons and targeting systems instead of relying only on costly missile interceptors.

Ukraine is using both, and Skynex has shown effectiveness against cruise missiles too. 2/

Russian factories are idling workers and switching to three-day weeks as orders disappear.

More than 20 enterprises in Leningrad region reduced work or stopped entirely; in Saint Petersburg, 1,300 workers are idle and 2,150 shifted to part-time, United24. 1/ A former IKEA plant in Tikhvin halted production after delayed payments drained its cash flow.
The company sold goods but could not collect revenue on time, leaving it unable to purchase raw materials and continue manufacturing. 2/

Ukraine's Defense Minister Fedorov: Ukrainian forces receive daily video evidence of Russian infantry killing themselves on the battlefield.

They commit suicide after drone strikes or when surrounded by UAV swarms. With each day this number is growing — United24. 1/ The pattern is consistent. Soldiers arrive undertrained, with no evacuation options, under constant drone surveillance.

When wounded or encircled, they see no way out. Russian military policy discourages surrender. Propaganda tells them it is better to die immediately. 2/

Soldier of Ukrainian Special Forces Karyakin: North Korean soldiers were hard to capture. Some killed themselves rather than surrender.

Others had to be restrained to keep them alive. They didn’t give up — they kept advancing or died on the battlefield.

1/ Karyakin: There are still people in occupied areas helping Ukraine, but it’s much harder now.

The occupation has changed — FSB control is tighter, and working as a partisan today is far more difficult than before.

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