June 10, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

“The story of the Trojan horse happened thousands of years ago. Today, we see this tactic coming to life again – thanks to technical and industrial creativity,” Commander-in-Chief of the NATO Transformation Force Pierre Vandieu commented on the Ukrainian special operation “Pavutyna”.

President of Estonia Alar Karis believes that in the long run Ukraine will become a NATO member.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski has stated that his country will not give up its support for Ukraine and its role in the EU despite the election of a new President.

Poland’s Minister for European Union Affairs Adam Szłapka hopes that the EU will be able to open the first cluster in negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU during Denmark’s presidency, which begins July 1.

On June 13, the EU Council expects to reach a political agreement on extending the temporary protection instrument for Ukrainian citizens until March 2027.

rf

The Government of Finland intends to increase defense spending to 3 % of GDP by 2029, which means an annual budget increase of EUR 1.5-2 billion due to the threat from the rf.

Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania Vladislav Kondratovič has said that his country needs about EUR 120 million to strengthen security on the border with the rf.

russian companies are experiencing increasing problems with salary payments. As of the end of April 2025, overdue wage arrears in the country reached RUB 1.482 billion, the highest level since 2021. Compared to December, the amount of delayed payments increased by 65 %, and soared by 240 % (3.4 times) compared to April 2014. Almost all salary delays (over 99 %) are due to the organizations’ “lack of own funds”. The number of employees who did not receive their money on time increased 1.5 times over the year.

russian authorities cannot cope with the flow of smuggling and counterfeiting, despite the massive introduction of product labeling. In 2023, the share of illegal trade in goods in the country amounted to 8.9 %. In four years, the market for illegal goods has grown one and a half times – by 58 %. The reasons for this include Western sanctions, legalization of parallel imports, rising inflation, a moratorium on business inspections, and the development of marketplaces. Retail stores account for 40.4 % of the shadow market turnover, marketplaces and online stores – for 37.3 %, and markets and fairs – for another 22.3 %. The share of counterfeit products in perfumes and cosmetics reaches 40 %, and in the laptop and smartphone market – 20-30 %. The problem of counterfeiting in the food industry, among children’s products and animal feed remains equally acute.

The median price of a classic shawarma in russian public catering has increased from 269 to 374 rubles. This is by 39 % more than a year earlier. The increase by 105 rubles was a record over the past three years. Among the key reasons for the rise in price are rising prices for ingredients, more expensive logistics and renting, and indexation of wages in the catering industry.

Exports of vegetable oil from russia continue to decline – in January-May they amounted to 2.72 million tons, which is by 19 % lower compared to the same period last year. In particular, shipments of sunflower oil fell by a quarter to 1.87 million tons, while soybean oil decreased by 38 % to 227 thousand tons in January-May.

“severstal”’s shareholders at the annual meeting approved a recommendation not to pay the final dividend for 2024.

In 12 regions of russia – Kaluga, Tula, Tver, Kalmykia, and other regions – residents have begun to be held liable for posting photos and videos of drone strikes and their consequences on social media. Fines are imposed on both individuals and the media. The first fine for individuals ranges from 1 to 5 thousand rubles, for legal entities – from 50 thousand to 200 thousand, and in Volgograd region, legal entities may immediately face a sanction of up to 1 million rubles. In Kaluga region, 42 reports have already been sent to court by early June.

Due to the lack of airplanes and fears of flying abroad, russians have switched to countryside outing.

Head of the Ural tourism association mikhail maltsev has said that the cost of traveling to russian resorts will continue to rise. The price of a week-long tour per person already averages 75 thousand rubles, including airfare, and this year the cost will exceed 100 thousand rubles per person. Hotel accommodation will increase by 15-18 %, airfares – by 20-22 %, and the cost of accommodation in sanatoria will rise by 15 %. The reasons for the increase are inflationary processes, rising food and electricity costs.

Under a new decree of the russian government, from June 30, all foreign nationals entering the territory of the rf through any checkpoint will be required to undergo fingerprinting and have their photographs taken.

All information related to the education of migrant children in russian schools, namely: personal data of the child and his or her parents; results of russian language proficiency testing; information on enrollment in an educational organization and expulsion; information on applications to an educational organization by foreign citizens included in the register of controlled persons, will be transferred to the departments of the rf’s ministry of internal affairs.

Another “emergency” in russia: a ship carrying two barges sank on the River Yenisei in Kazachinsk district of the Krasnoyarsk Krai with a hole in its fuel tank, has spilt 30 tons of fuel oil along the 20 km-long bank.

In russia, the incidence of a deadly hemophilic infection that attacks the respiratory system and central nervous system and leads to pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis has soared by 12,400 %. Because of the war against Ukraine, russia is experiencing a shortage of vaccines against measles, rubella, chickenpox and other infections due to the termination of supplies by international pharmaceutical companies and low stocks of medicines in russian hospitals. And russian manufacturers cannot cover domestic vaccine needs.

Sales of maz trucks in russia continue to decline amid the overall market decline in the rf. In May of this year, maz sold 266 trucks in russia, which is by 41 % fewer than last year.

Despite the shortage and rise in price of potatoes and other agricultural products for its own population, lukashenko has said that belarus is ready to supply Kaliningrad region with the necessary food, including “miserable potatoes”.

lukashenko has reiterated the need to increase the productivity of belarusian labor and the competitiveness of its products: “We have someone to learn from. Let’s be frank, the Europeans are good at this”.