Russia repels Ukrainian attempt in Kursk

Russia said on Sunday that its military had repelled Ukrainian attempts to advance deeper into the Kursk region.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have prevented attempts by the Ukrainian forces to break through deep into Russian territory and struck Ukraine's armored combat vehicles and anti-aircraft missile system in the Kursk region, said the defense ministry. Air defense systems over the Kursk region shot down four Tochka-U tactical missiles and 14 Ukraine-launched drones, the ministry said.

Due to Ukrainian attacks, more than 8,000 people have been evacuated from border areas in the Kursk Region over the past day, and some 6,000 of them have been placed in temporary accommodation centers, according to the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry. Hospitals have admitted 69 injured people, said Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has not observed any movement of Belarusian equipment or personnel near the Ukraine-Belarus border despite Belarus’ claims of bolstering military presence following a drone incident, State Border Guard Service spokesperson Andriy Demchenko said on Saturday. Intelligence units are "actively monitoring what is happening on the territory of Belarus so that Ukraine can respond in a timely manner to all the challenges we face," said Demchenko.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Saturday said that the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense shot down drones from Ukraine over the Belarus border on Friday evening.

According to the presidential press service on Telegram, air and defense forces entered a first-level alert state on Friday evening after Ukrainian air targets entered Belarus' airspace in the eastern Belarusian-Russian border.

Lukashenko has ordered to reinforce troops in Gomel and other border areas.

Russia repels Ukrainian attempt in Kursk

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Thursday that it would slash key interest rates by 25 basis points in a bid to wind down the restrictive monetary policy.

Effective from March 12, the interest rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility will be decreased to 2.50 percent, 2.65 percent and 2.90 percent respectively, said the central bank in a statement.

The disinflation process is well on track, with headline inflation averaging 2.3 percent in 2025, 1.9 percent in 2026 and 2.0 percent in 2027, the ECB said.

The decision to keep on cutting rates came at a time when the economy in the eurozone is facing increasing uncertainties.

In its latest edition of the staff projections on Thursday, the ECB lowered its forecast for economic growth in the eurozone to 0.9 percent for 2025, 1.2 percent for 2026 and 1.3 percent for 2027.

This marks a downward revision from the ECB's forecast in December last year, which had projected 1.1 percent growth in 2025 and 1.4 percent in 2026, while the 2027 outlook remains unchanged.

The ECB attributed the weaker growth outlook for 2025 and 2026 to declining exports and sluggish investment, citing high trade policy uncertainty and broader economic instability as key factors.

ECB cuts interest rates by 25 basis points