June 25, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The Netherlands has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine totaling approximately EUR 175 million, in which our country will receive 100 radars to detect drones and 20 Ermine CASEVAC vehicles for evacuating the wounded. Another EUR 80 million will also be allocated for drones as part of the international Drone Coalition.

“I want to be very clear: Ukraine is part of the Euro-Atlantic family. We must always condemn russia’s aggression and support Ukraine, and we will do so in times of war and in times of peace. We will help financially, politically and militarily,” said Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dick Schoof.

The Netherlands have signed contracts to produce 600,000 Ukrainian drones for Ukraine.

Ukraine and the United Kingdom are launching a new initiative to jointly produce drones.

The Government of the FRG has approved draft amendments to the country’s budget, which provides for EUR 8.3 billion in military aid to Ukraine this year.

The Government of Finland is preparing to send military aid to Ukraine worth EUR 143 million.

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and NATO have allocated almost EUR 37 million for the Defense Forces to improve satellite communications, including satellite radios, trackers, and services.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has announced the development of Ukraine’s “path to membership” in a decision of the Alliance’s summit. Mark Rutte has also emphasized that Ukraine is sharing with NATO allies important experience in fighting against the russian aggressor and has become the largest arms manufacturer in Europe.

The International Arbitration Tribunal in Switzerland has ordered gazprom to pay USD 1.37 billion to Naftogaz of Ukraine.

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“By the end of this week, we aim to approve the 18th package of sanctions against russia,” said High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.

“We know that russia will be able to test our mutual defense commitments over the next five years. By 2030, Europe should have everything it needs to create a credible deterrent. This is what we call the concept of ‘Readiness 2030’,” said Ursula von der Leyen.

“I hope that serious negotiations will start in the near future. And not only a truce will be achieved, but also a fair and lasting peace, and putin will never again dare to capture a single square kilometer of Ukrainian territory,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte emphasized that so far russia has not demonstrated a serious attitude to negotiations with Ukraine, as evidenced by the level of its delegation.

Federal Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz has said that he sees no other way to peace in Ukraine than to increase pressure on russia. “putin understands only the language of force. That is why peacekeeping requires us to use this language,” said the Chancellor.

In 2025, the rf’s government plans to purchase diamonds from the budget to support the state corporation “Alrosa”, which has been hit by Western sanctions and faced a decline in exports to a 10-year low.

As a result of the general economic crisis in the country, the amount of vacant space in the warehouse market in moscow and the region increased more than fivefold over the year, to 1.1 million square meters.

The Accounts Chamber of the rf has proposed to raise the fee for the use of water resources tenfold. The reason is to fill the state budget due to its deficit.

Businesses in russia have experienced a sharp deterioration in their situation amid high interest rates and a slowdown in the economy. The share of companies reporting a change in the situation for the worse over the past six months has increased to 34 %. This is the highest rate since the start of a full-scale war against Ukraine. For comparison, in May 2024, 16 % of companies reported a deterioration in the internal situation, and in December 2022 – 24 %.

The federal tax service of russia has sharply increased the amount of claims against businesses to fulfill its plan to collect fines for the budget, which is rapidly losing revenues from raw material rents. In the first quarter of 2025, companies and individuals were issued 190 billion rubles in fines and penalties, which was a historical record. Compared to the same period last year, the accrued tax amount increased by RUB 88 billion, or by 86 %. The bulk of it – 183 billion rubles – was accounted for by penalties for tax arrears.

The state duma of the rf has passed in the second and third readings a law that quadruples the fine for failure to notify the military commissariat of a change of residence. Currently, it is 1 thousand rubles. The document raises the range to 20 thousand rubles.

In russia, the enterprise that supplies microelectronics to the military and “Superjets” has stopped working. The electronics manufacturer “Optron-Stavropol” is on the verge of bankruptcy due to the low price of its products as part of supplies to the military. Fulfillment of the state defense order resulted in losses of more than 149 million rubles, deliveries under the contracts were disrupted, and accounts payable amounted to 230 million rubles as of June. As a result, the company is unable to continue its operations – its accounts have been arrested and it has accumulated debts on taxes, salaries and utilities.

The CEO of “Severstal”, a leading russian steelmaker, has admitted that exports have declined significantly. While in previous periods, due to a weaker ruble and a more loyal monetary policy, it was possible to export products, today such opportunities have been virtually exhausted – some companies are under sanctions, their nearest export regions are closed, and distant ones are simply economically unprofitable, given the cost of logistics, restrictions and the ruble’s overly strong exchange rate.

Starting July 1, Domodedovo will increase the share of fees and tariffs for russian airlines by an average of 7 %. In June, the airport was taken away from its owners in favor of the state.

The cost of studying engineering and technical specialities at leading russian universities has increased significantly in 2025. The largest increase was recorded at the moscow institute of physics and technology. Thus, the tuition fee for studying in the fields of “nuclear physics and technology” and “technical physics” increased by 47 % – from 605 thousand to 893 thousand rubles a year. The program “applied mathematics and physics” went up from 519 thousand to 767 thousand rubles. The cost of education in all educational institutions of the rf may grow faster than inflation.

The social studies course will lose lessons on moral norms, protection of civil rights and freedoms and will begin with the lesson “russia – our sacred state”. This follows from the draft changes to the school curriculum published by the ministry of education of the rf.

A law is being prepared in russia which will force graduates of state-funded medical universities to work in public clinics for three years under the threat of not receiving initial accreditation. A fine of about 5 million rubles (over 2.5 million hryvnias) will be imposed for breaking employment contracts after graduation.

Since the beginning of 2025, neighboring EU countries have stopped more than 20,000 attempts by migrants to illegally cross the border from belarusian territory.

Principles of mercy, humanism and solidarity, which “for centuries guided” The Order of Malta, are close to Belarus, – greeting the Grandmaster of the Order, said dictator lukashenko, who has not stopped repressions since 2020, persecuting his own citizens, and has been supporting the aggressor since the beginning of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022.

Another monument to a militiaman has appeared in Minsk. There are already six of them in the capital.