Ukraine updates: Hungary threatens gas stop amid oil dispute

Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Hungary will gradually stop the flow of gas to Ukraine until Russian Druzhba pipeline oil deliveries restart.

Meanwhile, Russia reports widespread overnight drone strikes.

DW has more.

Follow our roundup of the major news from or related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on March 25, 2026, here.

Zimbabwe says 15 nationals have died fighting for Russia
Zimbabwe on Wednesday said 15 of its citizens had been killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine, the latest African country to report its nationals dying on the front lines.

Information Minister Zhemu Soda said the 15 had been deceived into enlisting, referring to it as human trafficking.

"We are witnessing a troubling and dangerous trend, the recruitment of Zimbabwean citizens, who end up being in foreign armies and participating in armed conflict beyond our borders," Soda told reporters.

"This is not a matter of legitimate military service.

It is a sophisticated scheme of deception, exploitation and human trafficking that has already resulted in the loss of Zimbabwean lives."
He said that 15 nationals had died fighting in foreign wars, and that the government in Harare was working to repatriate their remains if possible.

He also said that a further 66 had been recruited and were still alive, with Harare working to secure their return.

Similar reports of African nationals being lured to Russia with promises of jobs and ending up on the front lines in Ukraine have emerged in coutries including Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.

Russian authorities have denied illegally recruiting African citizens to fight in Ukraine.

African recruits fighting in Ukraine: Where's the AU?

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Reuters: Russia facing most severe oil supply disruption in modern history
At least 40% of Russia's oil export capacity is currently offline due to Ukrainian drone attacks, damage to a major pipeline and Russian tankers being seized, according to calculations published by Reuters.

The news agency said the crisis amounted to "the most severe oil supply disruption in the modern history of Russia."
The country is the world's second-largest oil exporter, behind Saudi Arabia and ahead of the United States.

Energy revenue accounts for around a quarter of Russia's budget and are seen as a key source of funding for the Russian war against Ukraine.

While oil prices are surging due to the Iran war , Ukraine has targeted Russia's key export hubs, as well as oil pumping stations and refineries.

For nearly two months, Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off from the Russian oil traveling through the Druzhba pipeline due to what Kyiv says were drone attacks from Russia.

At the same time, the US and its European allies have clamped down on Russia's shadow fleet ­­­­­­— the vessels used to bypass Western energy sanctions.

Russia still exports to the buyers in China and other Asian states, but those routes have limited capacity, traders told Reuters.

Ukraine has not noticed a drop in Hungarian gas deliveries
Despite the threats made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Kyiv has not detected a cut in natural gas deliveries, a spokesman for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, Heorhii ⁠Tykhyi, ​told reporters.

"As of ‌now, this import has ‌not ​been stopped...

if Prime Minister Orban still decides to ​stop it, we believe that the only consequence ⁠will ​be to ​deprive the Hungarian economy ​and the Hungarians of ‌more than $1 billion, which Hungary ​received, for ⁠example, last year," he said.

Germany's Merz criticizes US oil sanctions move
Orban previously said the gas supply will be cut gradually until Russian oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline are restored.

The pipeline goes through Ukrainian territory.

Both Hungary and Slovakia have been cut off from Russian oil for nearly two months.

Ukrainians claim the flow was suspended due to damage done in Russian airstrikes, but Orban dismissed that as Ukrainian "blackmail."
Orban has repeatedly vetoed EU measures directed against Russia as well as aid for Ukraine.

Germany's Merz says Ukraine doesn't need Taurus missiles
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for more funds to be made available for Kyiv , rather than sending additional weapons to Ukraine.

Ukraine's weapons technology has moved "far, far ahead" from where it was when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Merz said on Wednesday.

The conservative chancellor previously called for Germany to deliver its long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine .

Addressing German lawmakers on Wednesday, however, Merz said this was no longer necessary.

He said Kyiv had domestically developed long-range weapons that are "significantly more effective than the relatively small number of Taurus missiles that we could have developed."
Merz also said that his previous stance was based on the assumption that "there were enough operative Taurus missiles in the Bundeswehr stockpiles," hinting at weapons' supply issues plaguing the German military .

Orban says EU will go back to Russian energy 'sooner or later'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban described sanctions on Russian oil and gas as "political madness" in an interview.

"Sooner or later, [the EU leaders] will have to go back to purchasing energy resources from Russia," Orban said.

The Hungarian prime minister also said the West must negotiate with Russia.

He said Moscow will not abandon its goals in Ukraine and will pursue them "by any means necessary."
"It is better to respond as quickly as possible — with a willingness to negotiate towards peace — than to continue fighting," Orban added.

US gave Russia 'detailed briefing' on its talks with Ukraine, Kremlin says
After US officials held talks with Ukrainian representatives in Florida, Moscow said the US provided it with details about the proceedings.

"They held ‌negotiations, [the US] provided us ‌with ​a detailed briefing on the results, and we ​know where we stand now," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

Ushakov also said that Moscow was not informed of any draft agreement regarding Ukraine, and that the trilateral talks were on hold "for obvious reasons" — in reference to the fighting in the Middle East .

Peace talks aimed at ending the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, now in its fifth year, seem to have stalled in recent weeks as the US refocuses on the ongoing Iran war .

Earlier today, however, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia and the US remained in contact.

EU seeks leading role on special Ukraine war crimes tribunal
The European Commission on Wednesday said that it had adopted a proposal seeking to make the European Union a founding member of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine .

"Justice for the victims of aggression is the best route to lasting peace," top EU foreign affairs official Kaja Kallas said.

"The pursuit of justice is equally a deterrent for would-be aggressors.

At a time when international law is under historical pressure, the right response is more accountability, not less.

Setting up the legal process — as we are doing now for Ukraine — takes time, effort and the widest possible international support, but it is worth it."
The Special Tribunal is being set up within the framework of the Council of Europe and will have the mandate to prosecute senior and military leaders for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

How it would seek or secure their extradition from Russia for trial is not clear.

The EU has played a leading role in drafting the founding legal texts for the institution and has donated €10 million (roughly $11.6 million) towards its establishment.

The Council of Europe is separate from the European Union, and so the bloc would need to establish itself as a founding member to perform key roles like selecting judges and prosecutors.

The proposal will first require domestic approval from the EU's 27 member states.

"Four years ago, the world awoke to the atrocities committed in Bucha, a quiet suburb of Kyiv, before Russia's war of aggression," Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath said.

"We reaffirm that there can be no just peace without accountability.

This is a decisive step towards establishing the Special Tribunal and ensuring that those responsible for Russia's crime of aggression are held to account."
Ukraine marks four years of war with Russia
Russia says it's still in 'contact' with US on faltering mediation efforts
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said that Russia remained in contact with the US on the talks with Ukraine and that Moscow hoped Wasington would continue its mediation efforts.

"Moscow continued to maintain contact with the Americans through existing channels," Peskov said.

"We are receiving updates on the situation.

We welcome the continued efforts by the American side to create the necessary conditions for reaching a settlement in the Ukrainian issue."
Peskov asserted that Russia remained open for dialogue.

According to a report in the Vedemosti newspaper, a delegation of Russian lawmakers was expected to visit the US in the near future.

Asked to comment on the report, Peskov said he welcomed all forms of dialogue with Washington and that such a visit, if one were to take place, would be in the interests of both sides.

The long-running attempts to broker talks and potentially a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, which already appeared to be bearing few to no fruits , have slowed to a crawl this month amid the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Meetings did however take place over the weekend after a pause lasting weeks .

Libyan Coast Guard tows damaged Russian tanker away from shore
The Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) says the Libyan Coast Guard has begun towing away a damaged liquefied natural gas tanker that has been drifting uncrewed for weeks.

Several Mediterranean countries had warned in a letter to the European Commission that the stricken vessel posed "an imminent and serious risk of a major ecological disaster."
Russia's Transport Ministry says the Russian-flagged Arctic Metagaz was hit by Ukrainian naval drones in early March.

It was carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk.

Moscow alleged the drones launched from Libya, with neither Kyiv nor Tripoli commenting on the claims.

Drifting with no crew aboard, it eventually reached waters near the shores of the western Libyan port of Zuwara.

Tripoli's GNU posted a video showing a frigate towing the tanker with a thick rope.

"We assure our people ​throughout Libya in ‌general, and the western coastal areas in particular, especially Zuwara and Sabratha, that the relevant authorities ​are making every ⁠effort to deal with the situation," a senior Coast Guard commander Omar Mohamed Omar Al-Tuwari said.

The authorities have not yet disclosed where they intend to tow the vessel.

Estonia and Latvia investigate drones crashing in their territory
Drones entered Estonian and Latvian territory and crashed, local authorities said on Wednesday, adding that investigations had begun.

Military and emergency services were on site to collect and examine debris, and there was not danger to the public, statements from Riga and Tallinn said.

They were working to determine whether the drones, which entered from Russia or Belarus, were Russian or Ukrainian.

The incidents came as Ukraine was attacking Russian targets in the Gulf of Finland.

In Estonia, the drone struck a chimney at the Auvere power station in Ida-Virumaa County, but caused no serious damage.

In Latvia, radar detected an unidentified flying object crossing the Latvian border at 2:19 am (0019 GMT), a military spokesman said on television.

Lithuania reported that a similar incident earlier in the week involved a Ukrainian drone that had probably been sent off course and crashed as a result of Russian counter-drone defenses.

"In the past 48 hours, drones have crashed in the territories of all three Baltic states: a clear indication that Russia’s war against Ukraine is generating wider regional risk," Lithuania's Defense Ministry said online.

"We will respond by strengthening readiness and accelerating air defence.

We must all remain vigilant."
Russia reports widespread drone attacks, including on Baltic oil export terminals
Russia's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that air defenses had intercepted a total of 398 drones overnight across 13 regions as well as the annexed Ukrainian Crimean peninsula .

State news agency TASS called it the largest overnight attack from Ukraine since the full-scale invasion of 2022.

This came a day after Russia fired almost 1,000 drones and 34 missiles at Ukraine over a 24-hour period on Tuesday, unusually extending its overnight barrage well into daylight hours.

Russia launches nearly 1,000 drones across Ukraine
Two of the Russian sites targeted by Ukraine were the Balitc oil export terminals of Primorsk and Ust-Luga.

Reuters news agency cited sources as saying that the facilities had suspended crude oil and oil products loadings on Wednesday after the attacks.

The Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reported a fire and plumes of black smoke at the Ust-Luga facility that were visible from the other side of the Gulf of Finland.

The two sites were forced to suspend oil deliveries on Sunday amid attacks, and Primorsk was targeted earlier in the week.

Ukrainian shelling overnight also caused power cuts affecting around 450,000 people in and around the Russian border city of Belgorod, according to a statement by Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov on Telegram.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, power was disrupted for some 150,000 households in and around the northern city of Chernihiv following Russia's earlier bombardment.

Orban: Hungary will gradually stop natural gas deliveries to Ukraine until Russian oil flows
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that Hungary will start to halt natural gas deliveries to Ukraine until Russian crude oil again flows through Ukraine via the Druzhba pipeline, which Ukraine says sustained damage in a Russian drone strike in January.

Landlocked Hungary and Slovakia, which were granted an exemption to EU sanctions on Russian oil because of their reliance, blame Ukraine for the outage, questioning whether the pipeline is actually out of action.

The already-tense issue has gained additional urgency amid the oil price shock triggered by the attacks on Iran and the conflict in the wider Gulf region.

"We are gradually halting gas deliveries from Hungary to Ukraine, and will store the gas that remains with us in Hungary," Orban said in a video posted on Facebook.

According to data on Hungarian pipeline operator FGSZ's website, gas shipments were continuing on Wednesday morning.

Last week, EU leaders failed to convince Orban , who faces a difficult general election in early April , to lift his blockade on a €90-billion (roughly $105 billion) loan package for Ukraine.

Orban and Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico also tied this issue to Druzhba pipeline deliveries.

EU experts are in Ukraine helping to assess the condition of the pipeline and fund repairs.

According to indications from Kyiv, the resumption of oil deliveries could take weeks yet.

Hello and welcome to our updates related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on March 25, 2026.

Both sides are reporting intensifying drone attacks this week, often targeting energy infrastructure, as the war in Iran drives oil and gas prices up.

Tens of thousands were struggling with disruptions to power supplies on either side of the border early on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban continues to try to use tensions over Ukraine as leverage in his difficult domestic election campaign, now threatening to halt gas supplies to Ukraine unless Russian oil deliveries restart.

And Baltic countries are investigating after more drones entered their airspace and crashed.