Drones, gas and shadow ships: 25 March 2026

What did a single day of war look like when its effects crossed three borders? On 25 March 2026, a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia spilled into the Baltic states, Hungary announced it would curb gas supplies to Ukraine, and Britain authorised its military to board Russian shadow fleet vessels.

Stray drones in the Baltics

During a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Russia, a stray Ukrainian drone struck a power station in Auvere, Estonia, while another crashed in Latvia. Both incidents involved the airspace of countries not party to the war.

Inside Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike killed two people in Belgorod Oblast, according to the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Budapest and the Druzhba pipeline

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said on 25 March that Hungary would gradually suspend gas supplies to Ukraine until Russian oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline resumed. He cited disruptions to deliveries that cross Ukraine.

The announcement carried weight in the energy relationship between the two countries. Hungary supplies 40% of Ukraine's electricity imports, by far the largest share among exporting states. Hungary has also been one of the few European states that did not provide military aid to Ukraine, and its government has drawn criticism at home and abroad for its attitude to the war. The measure announced on 25 March concerned gas rather than electricity.

London targets the shadow fleet

On the same day, British prime minister Keir Starmer authorised the military to board Russian shadow fleet vessels that the Russian government uses to evade international sanctions. The decision moved the issue from sanctions listings towards physical enforcement at sea.

The previous day's strikes

The events of 25 March followed a night of Russian attacks on 24 March. 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 in those areas were damaged.

On 24 March, a Russian Shahed drone also struck and severely damaged the Bernardine Church in Lviv, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lviv and the surrounding region have been targeted repeatedly since the start of the full-scale invasion, with both civilian and military sites hit, including electricity and railway infrastructure.

A day of spillover

Taken together, the reports from 24 and 25 March show how the war's effects reached beyond the front line: stray ordnance in Estonia and Latvia, a pipeline dispute turned into a gas threat, and a tougher British stance on sanctions evasion at sea.