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What happened on 26 March 2026 in the war
Summary
A look back at a day of fallout from stray drones, gas threats, recruitment losses and strikes on Ukrainian cities.
What did the war look like on 26 March 2026? It was a day of confirmations and consequences, with several developments from the preceding days reaching a wider audience, from the Baltic states to southern Africa.
Zimbabwe counts its dead
On 26 March 2026, Zimbabwe confirmed that 15 of its citizens had been killed after being recruited by Russia to fight in Ukraine. More than 60 others were still on the front line. Cabinet minister Soda Zhemu said most of them had been lured to Russia through social media.
Stray drones in the Baltics
The day before, 25 March 2026, a stray Ukrainian drone struck a power station in Auvere, Estonia, while another crashed in Latvia. Both incidents came during a large-scale drone attack on Russia. In Russia itself, a Ukrainian drone strike killed two people in Belgorod Oblast, according to the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Gas and the Druzhba pipeline
Also on 25 March 2026, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said Hungary would gradually suspend gas supplies to Ukraine until Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline resumed. He cited disruptions to deliveries crossing Ukraine. Background on the relationship shows why the announcement carried weight: Hungary supplies 40% of Ukraine's electricity imports, by far the largest share among exporting states. Hungary was also one of the few European states that did not provide military aid to Ukraine.
Pressure on the shadow fleet
On 25 March 2026, British prime minister Keir Starmer authorised the military to board Russian shadow fleet vessels that the Russian government uses to evade international sanctions.
Strikes on Ukrainian cities
On 24 March 2026, Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine killed at least three people, two in Poltava and one in Zaporizhzhia, and injured several others. Residential buildings and infrastructure were damaged. In Lviv, a Russian Shahed drone struck and severely damaged the Bernardine Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Background material notes that Lviv and its region have been targeted by Russian attacks since the start of the full-scale invasion, including electricity and railway infrastructure and an army base.
A day of spillover
Taken together, the reports around 26 March 2026 showed the war reaching beyond the front line: into neighbouring states' airspace, into energy relations between Kyiv and Budapest, into maritime enforcement, and into the families of foreign recruits.
