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Meet the Platypi: NASA’s Newest Astronaut Candidate Class
Mar 19, 2026
Ten explorers are currently training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to become flight-eligible astronauts.
Selected in 2025, the astronaut candidates are building the technical and operational skills needed for future missions to the International Space Station, the Moon, and eventually Mars. Now, NASA’s newest astronaut candidates have a class name: the Platypi.
The name was selected by the previous astronaut candidate class, known as the Flies. Members of that group came together to choose a name that reflected the range of skills and personalities they saw in the new candidates.
NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Chris Birch helped facilitate the discussions.
“They’re like the Swiss Army knife of candidates,” Menon said. “They can use just about any tool to solve any problem or challenge they face.
They’re unassuming and incredibly kind, but extremely capable.”
Menon said the class reminded the Flies of one of Earth’s most remarkable animals.
“Our main driver was that this class stood out as extremely capable, with a lot of different skills, while also being very friendly and supportive of each other,” he said. “They have many diverse and sometimes hidden talents, like the platypus.”
The platypus is a mammal that lays eggs and has unique traits such as electroreceptors in its bill and a venomous spur. Its features resemble several different animals, including the bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver, and the body of an otter.
Despite its unusual appearance, the platypus is highly adapted to its environment.
For NASA’s newest astronaut candidates, the name reflects a similar idea: a team with a wide range of strengths working together toward a common goal.
So far, the astronaut candidates have trained to operate and understand the Canadarm2 robotic arm used aboard the space station.
They are learning how to capture visiting spacecraft, move equipment outside the station, and support spacewalk operations. The candidates also train in space station systems, orbital mechanics, and flight operations.
“It is really impressive to me to learn about all of the complexities of the various systems that keep the International Space Station operational, and how they’ve all been functioning with a continuous human presence aboard for the last 25 years,” said astronaut candidate Lauren Edgar.
“It’s amazing to see how it all works together and how to fix things when needed.”
The candidates have completed survival training to prepare for the unlikely event of landing in remote environments after a mission. They also participated in land and water survival exercises designed to build teamwork and decision-making under pressure.
“The diversity of the training as well as the focus on psychological, physical, and expeditionary skills has been the most surprising to me,” said astronaut candidate Yuri Kubo.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself, from areas of professional and interpersonal development to my ability to overcome challenges. It is amazing what we can achieve with dedication and hard work and an amazing team of people to support you.”
The candidates began conducting spacewalk training inside NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where astronauts rehearse spacewalks underwater in conditions that simulate microgravity.
They also have flown in the agency’s T-38 supersonic jets and other aircraft at Ellington Field.
Future training will include operating spacecraft systems used in human spaceflight missions, and studying geology in classrooms and field settings for future missions to the Moon.
The class will work shifts in the Mission Control Center in Houston to experience a day in the life of the people who keep watch over the astronauts and vehicles.
“Our training has already been diverse and dynamic,” said astronaut candidate Anna Menon. “There is a lot to learn, and I’m excited about every chapter!”
The Platypi are focused on learning the fundamentals of human spaceflight, building the skills that will one day help them operate spacecraft, conduct science in orbit, and explore beyond Earth.
Like the animal they are named after, their strength lies in the many capabilities each member brings to the team.
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/meet-the-platypi-nasas-newest-astronaut-candidate-class/
NASA’s Roman Observatory Passes Final Major Prelaunch Tests
Mar 19, 2026
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team recently blasted the observatory with extreme sound, shook it, and listened to its electronic hum.
Roman passed all three assessments, which aimed to confirm that the observatory will withstand launch conditions and function as expected in space. The achievement keeps the mission on track for launch as early as this fall.
“All of the testing went smoothly and progress is well ahead of schedule,” said Jack Marshall, the Roman observatory integration and testing lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“The team has done a great job putting the observatory together, and the tests show that everything is lining up with expectations.”
In January, the team set up an absorbent panel around the observatory for an electromagnetic interference test. This special configuration is designed to block external radio signals and absorb reflections inside the test facility.
Engineers powered on all of Roman’s electronics and measured the signals they generated, closely monitoring for any errors.
Too much electrical noise could interfere with the observatory’s ability to detect faint infrared signals, but Roman passed with flying colors.
The team moved on to vibration testing in February.
“Each time the observatory traveled between test facilities, it was placed in a custom-made portable clean room to protect it from contamination that could otherwise compromise scientific performance once in space,” said Joel Proebstle, a mechanical systems engineer who led the vibration and acoustic tests at NASA Goddard.
Engineers tested the observatory on a large shaker table to simulate the vibrations it will experience during launch, gradually building to higher frequencies.
“Try to imagine sitting on that rocket and feeling all those vibrations,” said Cory Powell, the Roman structural analyst lead at NASA Goddard.
“We simulated the shaking that the launch vehicle will produce to ensure the components and connections will all remain intact.”
In early March, the team conducted an acoustic test. The test took place in a state-of-the-art sound booth, where engineers ramped up the volume to 138 decibels — about as loud as a jet engine from 100 feet away.
“If you’ve ever been at a concert with an extremely loud bass, that load you felt was acoustic energy,” Powell said. “Now think about how loud a launch is. The acoustics can produce very high loads on a large structure like Roman.”
Roman has now returned to the large clean room at Goddard where it will undergo a final series of smaller tests. The next one aims to replicate the shock Roman will experience shortly after launch when the observatory separates from the rocket.
Then the team will deploy all of the elements that will initially be stowed (including the solar panels, “visor,” antenna, and “sunblock” shield), to verify that they’ll still work correctly even after launch and rocket separation.
Early this summer, the observatory will be transported to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparations.
There, engineers will verify that the observatory arrived fully intact and begin prepping the rocket — a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. The team expects Roman to be ready for launch within a few months after the observatory’s arrival at NASA Kennedy.
“We have a great team, great leadership, and with our successful testing we continue to set the standard for staying within budget and schedule while balancing difficult challenges,” Powell said.
“Meeting cost and schedule commitments without compromise to technical standards is a major point of pride for the Roman team.”
https://www.nasa.gov/universe/nasas-roman-observatory-passes-final-major-prelaunch-tests/
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk4anYfPyb0
NASA Laser Reflecting Instrument Makes GPS Satellite More Accurate
Mar 19, 2026
A NASA laser reflecting technology that will aid Global Positioning System (GPS) accuracy is now operational as of March 9.
The instrument, known as a laser retroreflector array, or LRA, launched aboard GPS III SV-09, the ninth of U.S. Space Force’s Block III Global Positioning System satellites, on Jan. 27.
LRAs are sets of mirrors shaped like the corners of a cube, a configuration that is designed to precisely reflect beams of light back to their source.
They are a key component to laser ranging, a technique that enables the measurement of precise distance by observing the time it takes for a pulse of light to travel from a ground station to the mirrors and back.
“LRAs are the most efficient and cost-effective way to improve products that come out of GPS,” said Lucia Tsaoussi, program manager for NASA’s Space Geodesy at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Whether walking, driving, sailing, or flying, GPS technology helps people know their location and navigate to their destination.
With the LRA being put to work, this GPS satellite will have an improved tie to the global coordinate system, resulting in more accurate location and navigation information for users.
“We are the hidden infrastructure,” said Stephen Merkowitz, project manager for the Space Geodesy Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Most people don’t realize that they're relying on these kinds of measurements every day throughout their lives.”
Using GPS data also supports other Earth-observing satellites and the data they collect. These satellites help us understand our planet and provide early warnings for natural hazards.
Satellites orbiting the planet have GPS receivers to help pinpoint their exact location in space. The more precise the GPS orbit information, the more accurate and reliable the rest of the satellite’s data becomes, Tsaoussi said.
Satellites like ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation satellite 2), SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography), and GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On) also rely on laser-ranging technology to pinpoint their location in orbit.
NASA’s Space Geodesy Project operates a global network of Satellite Laser Ranging stations dedicated to continuous satellite tracking. Local stations are currently monitoring the latest GPS III satellite, with international stations set to follow soon.
These LRAs were developed by the Space Geodesy Project in partnership with the Naval Research Laboratory’s Naval Center for Space Technology in Washington.
https://science.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasa-laser-reflecting-instrument-makes-gps-satellite-more-accurate/
extra NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/stennis/collecting-explosion-data-for-next-generation-rockets/
https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/news/high-value-air-quality-data-from-inexpensive-sensors
https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/australias-red-centre-turns-green/
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/lava-flows-down-mayon/
https://www.cia.gov/about/director-of-cia/
NASA unveils satellite map exposing ocean floor gravity secrets
March 19, 2026
A 5-kilometer resolution is a significant standard for global satellite altimetry maps used to predict bathymetry
NASA recently released a ground-breaking global map of the ocean floor, primarily powered by data from the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite mission.
The mission, launched in 2022 in partnership with France’s CNES, produced one of the most detailed global ocean floor maps using satellite measurements of Earth’s gravity field.
The map, announced in March 2025, detects seafloor features like seamounts and ridges at about 5-kilometer resolution by measuring centimeter-level ocean height changes caused by gravitational pulls.
It fills a critical gap in ship-based sonar coverage-which currently details only 25% of the seafloor- and advances research into plate tectonics, ocean currents, tsunami modeling, submarine navigation, and deep-sea ecosystems.
Animations of the map have resurfaced online, a reminder that satellite data has revealed more of our oceans than direct surveys have of the Moon.
The deep ocean’s hadal zone is so poorly explored that we have mapped more of the Moon’s surface than Earth’s abyssal plains-yet these depths host unique life forms like worms, such as giant tube worms, that thrive under crushing pressures.
Nonetheless, these extreme depths contain massive reservoirs of dissolved methane and potentially uncovered microbial ecosystems that could rival the biomass of all surface life, while holding clues to both Earth’s early life and possible extra-terrestrial habitability.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1396208-nasa-unveils-satellite-map-exposing-ocean-floor-gravity-secrets
https://twitter.com/CuriosityonX/status/2034368107658027310
The 50-Year-Old Phantom Radio Signal That Has Utterly Stumped Scientists. Until Now?
Mar 19, 2026 11:57 AM EDT
Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:
The source of the iconic Wow! signal has been a mystery to science for nearly 50 years.
A group of researchers has been studying signals captured by the Arecibo telescope in order to finally uncover what may have caused the famous signal.
It turns out that the answer may have been fairly simple all along, but we simply didn’t have the tech to find it until now.
It’s not every day that the excitement of a scientist makes its way into the history books right alongside their discovery. But that is exactly what happened with one particular finding known as the “Wow! signal.”
The Wow! signal—named for the little “Wow!” written next to it when it was spotted by astronomer Jerry Ehman in 1977 using the Ohio State University Big Ear radio telescope—was a particularly strong radio signal found during one of the first active hunts for messages sent by extraterrestrial intelligence. It lasted for 72 seconds, and considering that the threshold for possible alien communication had been set at just 36 seconds, it was definitely an appropriately labeled finding.
Unfortunately, this was not first contact. But as for what it was—well, that’s been a mystery for decades. It popped up just that once and was never detected again, leaving scientists in the dark.
There have been several explanations put forth in the last several years, but they have largely been contradictory, so the issue hasn’t been settled.
Until, potentially, now. The team of scientists behind a study recently uploaded to the preprint server arXiv believes that they’ve finally cracked the case.
“Our latest observations,” Abel Méndez, who led the project that produced this paper, said in a press release, “made between February and May 2020, have revealed similar narrowband signals near the hydrogen line, though less intense than the original Wow! Signal.”
This paper represents the first results of the Arecibo Wow! project, which aimed to do exactly what this paper claims to have done: dig through data captured by the tragically collapsed Arecibo Telescope in order to find other signals that resemble (and thus, potentially explain) the Wow! signal.
Specifically, the team was looking at signals around what’s called, unimaginatively, the 1420 megahertz (MHz) hydrogen emission line—frequencies right around where the Wow! signal was detected.
And while they didn’t find any signals that were as strong as the Wow! signal (which was, at its peak, an astonishing 30-31 time stronger than all background noise detected around it), they did find signals that behaved in the same manner.
And it seems that all of those signals can be traced back to the same source.
According to the paper, the Wow! signal and others like it can be attributed to cold clouds of hydrogen flaring up with energy when hit by some kind of huge radiation flare—a phenomenon known as stimulated emission.
“We hypothesize,” the team wrote in their paper, “that the Wow! Signal was caused by sudden brightening from stimulated emission of the hydrogen line due to a strong transient radiation source, such as a magnetar flare or a soft gamma repeater (SGR).
These are very rare events that depend on special conditions and alignments, where these clouds might become much brighter for seconds to minutes.”
A rare event would make sense for the Wow! signal, considering that we only ever saw it once.
And the comparative dimness of the other, similar signals found by the Arecibo Wow! project would also help to explain why the Wow! signal was so singular—all the other signals like it would have just been too dim to see with Big Ear.
At the time, we would have only been able to detect a Big Kahuna version like the Wow! signal.
Now that our telescopes have gotten much more sensitive, it looks like we may have finally been able to flesh out the category that was dominated by the Wow! signal for decades.
If this team is right, the mystery of the source of this signal is solved—it was just an exceptionally large hydrogen cloud energy flare-up that we happened to be lucky enough to catch.
“Our hypothesis” the team wrote, “explains all observed properties of the Wow! Signal, proposes a new source of false positives in technosignature searches, and suggests that the Wow! Signal could be the first recorded event of an astronomical maser flare [a source of energy produced by stimulated emission] in the hydrogen line.”
Follow-up investigations are likely to follow, but the team feels confident in their findings. Almost 50 years after one of the most famous mysteries of astronomy was discovered, they may just have finally put it to bed.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a70792729/wow-signal-mystery-breakthrough/
https://phl.upr.edu/wow/summary
https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.08513
=Senator Mark Kelly Addresses Flatulence in Space Suits: What to Know About the Surprising Reality==
March 19 2026, Published 10:11 a.m. ET
Senator Mark Kelly recently discussed a topic that many might find humorous yet relatable: passing gas in a space suit.
The former astronaut spoke candidly about this issue during a conversation in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
Mark Kelly Shares a Candid Space Anecdote
In an interview with reporters, Kelly, who has completed four missions to the International Space Station (ISS), clarified that astronauts manage to handle natural bodily functions while in orbit.
He emphasized that “No one can hear you fart in space!” highlighting that the vacuum of space provides a unique environment for such occurrences.
Kelly explained that astronauts should feel comfortable about releasing gas while wearing their space suits. “They should feel secure letting a little methane out,” he stated.
This reassurance from a seasoned astronaut sheds light on an often-overlooked aspect of life in space.
Unspoken Daily Realities of Astronaut Life
The senator's comments have garnered attention, as they bring to light the human side of astronauts.
While many view space explorers as heroic figures, they face challenges that are often mundane. Kelly’s frankness about this issue encourages a more relatable perspective on the lives of astronauts.
Social Media Embraced the Humor
The interest in Kelly’s remarks has sparked conversations across social media platforms. The public has responded positively, with many sharing the video clip and adding their own humorous interpretations.
This reaction demonstrates that humor can connect people, even when discussing topics that might initially seem embarrassing.
The Moment Humanized Life in Orbit
In summary, Kelly’s revelations about flatulence in space serve as a reminder that astronauts are human and experience the same bodily functions as everyone else.
The senator’s light-hearted approach to this topic invites further exploration into the realities of life aboard the ISS.
As the conversation continues, it raises questions about what other aspects of space life remain unspoken. Will more astronauts choose to discuss their experiences?
Time will tell, but one thing is certain: humor plays an essential role in coping with the challenges of space travel.
https://okmagazine.com/p/senator-mark-kelly-addresses-flatulence-in-space-suits-reality/
Proba-3’s Coronagraph is alive!
19/03/2026
After more than a month of silence, ESA's ground station in Villafranca, Spain, received telemetry from the Coronagraph spacecraft.
Telemetry is a package of data sent by a spacecraft including information on its temperature, voltages, and health of onboard systems.
The Coronagraph is now in safe mode and stable, and the mission team and operators are running health checks on the spacecraft to understand if any parts of it have been damaged.
The spacecraft’s solar panel is facing the Sun, powering the essential electronics on board, and charging the battery with the remaining power.
After a month of floating in space and exposed to extreme cold, onboard systems need time to warm up before any major actions are taken.
“Hearing back from the Coronagraph is amazing news, and a great relief!” comments Damien Galano, Proba-3 Mission Manager.
“Since the issue was detected a month ago, the mission team, operators and our industry partners have been working tirelessly to get the spacecraft back.
“When we got the call from the operators at Villafranca, the excitement in the team was palpable. But the hard work is not over yet – we need to carefully look at the data before we take any further steps.”
More updates will be posted on the Proba-3 blog as soon as they become available.
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Proba-3_s_Coronagraph_is_alive
https://blogs.esa.int/proba-3/
extra ESA
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2026/03/345th_ESA_Council_Media_information_session
SpaceX Starlink Mission
March 19, 2026
On Thursday, March 19 at 10:20 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 29 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This was the 27th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, NG-20, TD7, and now 20 Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/sl-10-33
https://www.space.com/live/rocket-launch-today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AdDkXe67XU
WHAT HAPPENS AT: SSC MindGym
March 19, 2026
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – In today’s contested and increasingly complex operational environment, the concept of "lethality" is expanding beyond the physical realm of weaponry and into the cognitive domain.
Space Systems Command (SSC) is investing in the mental readiness of its warfighters through MindGym, an innovative, science-backed training capability designed to sharpen focus, accelerate recovery, and strengthen the mental edge essential for lethality and dominance in space operations.
“MindGym was conceived to equip our Guardians and Airmen with neuroscience-backed tools to unlock peak mental performance,” said Mr. Colin Lim, the Licensed Mental Health Provider on the Guardian Resilience Team at Los Angeles Air Force Base.
According to Lim, just a few sessions on MindGym can reduce reaction times under stress by some 29% and boost mood by up to 46%.
These results stem from MindGym’s powerful fusion of neuroscience, cutting-edge technology, and immersive art in a fully self-guided pod that lets users train their minds with the same deliberate intensity and rigor as physical conditioning.
At its core, MindGym harnesses neuroplasticity, the brain’s lifelong ability to reorganize neuronal pathways, strengthen connections, and adapt in response to targeted experiences and training.
Through controlled sensory isolation, dynamic light patterns, reflection, and therapeutic sound, MindGym creates an optimal environment to regulate the nervous system, cultivate deep focus, reduce cognitive overload, and forge lasting mental muscle memory.
This isn't just optional wellness training: it's the decisive edge that elevates capable operators into unstoppable forces.
“You can think of it as a flight simulator for the mind,” said Lim.
Sessions orient users to the present moment, quiet mental noise, and reinforce a high-performance mindset, turning reactive stress into proactive resilience that transforms potential burnout into sustained mission dominance.
With a repeatable, measurable approach, users gain optimized mental performance, enhanced focus, superior stress recovery, and the ability to thrive under pressure.
By proactively training resilience, not just reacting to fatigue, MindGym combats cognitive fatigue across demanding operational tempos, delivering fast stress recovery, sharper clarity—even under pressure—and enduring cognitive readiness.
Sessions are efficient (10-20 minutes), accessible, and seamlessly integrate into the duty day or workout at the gym. Guided audio cues pair with immersive light and sound to reset, recover, recharge, and elevate cognitive sharpness without disrupting missions.
MindGym is deployed across nearly 40 installations worldwide, supporting Air Force, Space Force, Army National Guard, and Joint Force units.
Deployments span major commands including Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Education and Training Command, Air Combat Command, Pacific Air Forces, and Guard and Reserve units.
Notable installations include Hill Air Force Base (Flightline), Barksdale Air Force Base, Joint Base San Antonio, and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
For SSC, MindGym is available to Active-Duty Service Members, civilians, contractors, family dependents, and others with base access to Los Angeles Air Force Base, Patrick Space Force Base, Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, and Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Getting started is intentionally effortless: Eligible participants can create an account directly at the MindGym kiosk in minutes, then access it as often as desired. Schedule at www.lumenalabs.com/booking.
New and returning users are invited to join the Mental Edge Challenge, a structured 30-day program with guided sessions to build habits and track real, measurable impact. https://lumenalabs.com/30daychallenge/
As SSC spearheads warfighting capabilities at speed and scale, elite mental training is as critical as physical readiness.
MindGym delivers a proven, science-driven path to train focus, recovery, and resilience, ensuring Space Force and SSC personnel are mentally primed to operate, decide, and lead when it matters most.
https://www.ssc.spaceforce.mil/Newsroom/Article-Display/Article/4437417/what-happens-at-ssc-mindgym
extra Space Force
https://www.vandenberg.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4438587/ms-kathryn-kolbe-tours-vandnberg/
Kremlin warns of global fallout from Ukrainian attacks on pipelines
Updated 19 Mar, 2026 15:55
Ukraine’s escalating drone attacks targeting Russian gas infrastructure risk compounding the energy shock being unleashed by the war on Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned.
Russian energy giant Gazprom announced on Thursday that Ukraine had ramped up attacks on compressor stations linked to the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines, which together can carry up to 47.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
The company said Ukrainian forces had launched 22 drones at the Russkaya compressor station, three at Kazachya, and one at Beregovaya, all located near the Black Sea coast.
All of the drones were intercepted, and no damage to infrastructure was recorded, Gazprom added.
Commenting on the drone raids later the same day, Peskov warned that the attacks could worsen an already fragile global energy situation.
“At a time when global energy markets are, to put it mildly, uncomfortable, such irresponsible and thoughtless actions by the Kiev regime could further destabilize the situation not only in the region, but globally,” he said.
The strikes came amid a new escalation spiral in the US-Israeli war against Iran, with the Jewish state targeting Iranian energy infrastructure in the South Pars natural gas field — the world’s largest.
The attack, along with the Iranian retaliation that damaged Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG hub, resulted in gas prices – which have already spiked because of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz – soaring by nearly 30% on Thursday.
Moscow has on numerous occasions accused Kiev of seeking to sabotage the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines, with President Vladimir Putin suggesting the involvement of Western intelligence in the operations.
https://www.rt.com/russia/635546-kremlin-warns-global-fallout-ukraine-drones/
EU state’s leader urges return to ‘harmony’ in ties with Russia
Updated 19 Mar, 2026 07:54
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has urged the EU to rebuild mutually beneficial relations with Russia once the Ukraine conflict is over.
In an interview with GB News published on Wednesday, Orban said the West upended the European security landscape by encouraging Ukraine’s bid to join NATO despite Russia’s “very clear” warning that it views the bloc’s eastward expansion as a security threat.
Hungary believes Russia should not be excluded from any future European arrangements on security, energy, and trade, Orban said.
Hungary has long criticized the EU’s push to phase out Russian energy imports, arguing that the policy has driven up energy prices across member states and hurt businesses.
Around 83% of the bloc’s industrial competitiveness indicators were already stagnant or worsening, according to a Deloitte report published last month.
Orban has also argued that sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine have backfired, taking a heavy toll on the EU economy.
The escalating conflict in the Middle East has further driven a surge in oil and gas prices in recent weeks, after Iran closed the vital Strait of Hormuz to Western shipping.
Last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto urged the EU to lift its ban on Russian energy imports, arguing that sanctions are causing “serious harm to European people and the European economy.”
Russian presidential investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev said the Iran conflict further exposed the sanctions as “strategic blunders.”
The EU will “inevitably beg for more Russian gas,” Dmitriev wrote on X on Tuesday, citing HSBC projections of a 40% increase in European natural gas prices.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is considering redirecting its gas deliveries from Europe elsewhere.
He added this month, however, that Russia will continue working with “reliable” partners, including Hungary and Slovakia.
https://www.rt.com/news/635467-orban-eu-harmony-russia/
Kremlin Slams ‘Irresponsible’ Ukrainian Drone Attacks on TurkStream and Blue Stream Compressor Stations
March 19, 2026
Gazprom said Thursday that Ukraine attacked energy sites in the southern Krasnodar region linked to the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines, which pass through the Black Sea and carry natural gas to Turkey.
In a statement, the company said that 26 Ukrainian drones targeted three compressor stations between Tuesday and Thursday, but stressed that the Russian military had intercepted all of the aircraft. No injuries or damage were reported.
Gazprom said the compressor stations “ensure” the flow of natural gas through the two pipelines, which are the only remaining routes for Russian pipeline gas exports to Europe.
The Kremlin condemned the drone attacks on Thursday,
“As global energy markets are feeling unease… such irresponsible and thoughtless actions by the Kyiv regime can further destabilize the situation in the region and the entire world,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a daily briefing.
The reported Ukrainian attack comes as natural gas prices in Europe hit their highest level since January 2023 following Iran’s strikes on Qatar’s liquefied natural gas hub on Wednesday.
Gazprom previously reported Ukrainian drone attacks on its compressor stations in Krasnodar last week.
At the time, Peskov said Russia had warned Turkey about possible sabotage attempts targeting the TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines.
Both Ukraine and Russia regularly launch drone and missile attacks at each other’s territory, with officials in Kyiv justifying their strikes as retaliation for Russia’s full-scale invasion and ongoing occupation of Ukrainian territory.
Kyiv says it primarily targets military and energy infrastructure in an attempt to impede the Kremlin’s ability to finance its war.
President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is ready to supply oil and gas to European buyers amid the Middle East war, but Peskov said Wednesday that EU countries have not yet shown any interest in renewing energy cooperation.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/03/19/kremlin-slams-irresponsible-ukrainian-drone-attacks-on-turkstream-and-blue-stream-compressor-stations-a92267
other Russia and Ukraine
https://english.nv.ua/russian-war/drone-op-by-the-national-guard-and-unmanned-systems-forces-eliminates-six-russian-mlrs-50593161.html
https://kyivindependent.com/russian-daily-losses-surge-ukrainian-commander-claims-hundreds-picked-off-by-drones/
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/4103367-russian-drones-strike-community-in-sumy-region-leaving-two-killed-one-injured.html
https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2026/march-2026/ukraines-president-offers-drone-expertise-to-support-allies-in-middle-east/
https://voennoedelo.com/en/posts/id14193-russian-drone-strike-hits-sbu-hq-in-lviv-region-report
https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/russian-drone-strike-damages-odesa-synagogue-and-jewish-charity-hub/