Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

“The USA is ready to supply as much military equipment to Ukraine as necessary, especially in the interests of Europe. We must maintain this flow and not lose sight of the main problem, which is the fight against russia. Ukrainians are doing this, and they need our support. This is also a matter of our collective security,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed the need to support Ukraine during russia’s systematic attacks on critical infrastructure.

Chair  of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone has assured that the North Atlantic Alliance will continue its comprehensive support for Ukraine in its fight against russia’s military aggression, and that the initiatives already being implemented are yielding results.

Minister of Defence of Norway Tore O. Sandvik has announced that his country has recently supplied Ukraine with a significant number of missiles for the NASAMS air defense systems.

The government of Germany has  called russia’s systematic strikes on Ukraine’s energy system and heat supply facilities, which threaten a humanitarian catastrophe in large cities, war crimes.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has pointed out  that the European Union is a peaceful project and has never allowed military action on its territory, so Ukraine should quickly become a member of the EU. “The European Union is a peaceful project. There have been wars in Europe, including in my country, and later in Croatia, Bosnia, etc., but never on the territory of the European Union. That is why we will accept you (Ukraine) as soon as possible,” Kos said.

“The President (Donald Trump) talked about a duty-free zone for Ukraine. I think this could radically change the situation,” said US Special Representative Steve Witkoff during the Ukraine Breakfast event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Witkoff also suggested that if this idea were implemented, industrial enterprises could move to Ukraine en masse.

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UK Defence Secretary John Healey has urged not to forget that russia remains NATO’s  main adversary.

President of Finland Alexander Stubb believes that it is “too expensive” for putin to end the war, and therefore russia does not want to do so.

Estonia’s Parliament has formed a Commission to investigate russia’s interference in the country’s affairs.

The inclusion of russia in the EU’s list of high-risk countries, which will come into force on January 29, 2026, together with previously adopted sanctions, has effectively brought russians’ bank transfers to Europe to the brink of a complete blockade. Major European banks are refusing to accept payments from russia and are imposing their own restrictions on customers linked to the rf, prohibiting them from receiving transfers from both russian sources and financial institutions in former soviet countries.

The Mannheim Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany) has removed a concert with russian violinist vadim repin from its program.

In 2025, russia’s authorities issued a record in nine years number of work permits to citizens of India and Bangladesh. Thus, 56,500 Indian citizens were invited to work in russia, compared to 36,200 a year earlier. In turn, 9,300 people came from Bangladesh to work in the country, compared to 2,800 in 2024. Both figures are record highs since at least 2017. Besides, the number of work permits for citizens of Turkmenistan increased more than 2.5 times (to 25,000), for citizens of Uzbekistan – five times (to 2,300),  for citizens of Tajikistan – almost 3 times. The number of Chinese citizens allowed to work in russia also increased by about 50% (to 92,000). In total, in 2025, the number of work permits issued to foreigners reached 240,000, which was a record since 2017. Over the year, the indicator grew by almost 42%.

In January, the ministry of finance of the rf will receive 420 billion rubles in taxes from oil and gas, which is by 46% less than in the same month a year earlier. The government intends to “compensate” for the lost raw material rent from the National Wealth Fund. As a result, the NWF’s money may run out this year. As of January 1, the fund had 4.1 trillion rubles in liquid assets. Only Chinese yuan worth approximately $30 billion remained in currency reserves – the lowest amount since the NWF was created in 2008.

Prices in russia continue to rise rapidly, offsetting the VAT increase. Inflation for the week of January 13-19 was 0.45%, and since the beginning of the year – 1.72%. The average daily price increase in January is nine times higher than in December, twice as high as in January 2025, and three times higher than in January 2023 and 2024.

At the end of 2025, credit card issuance in russia fell by 43% in terms of quantity and  by 41% in terms of value. Market participants do not expect significant growth in this segment in 2026.

The amount of cash in circulation in russia will grow by at least 22% over the next five years, and by 35% – in the worst-case scenario. The reasons include an increased tax burden, in particular an increase in VAT and a sharp reduction in the threshold for its payment for small businesses, as well as general economic uncertainty.

The cost of food in russia in February will be affected by the rise in logistics costs (10-20% in different segments), the cost of renting warehouse space, and utility payments for them. At this, prices will be affected by changes in the salaries of service personnel.

In 2025, laptop sales in russia fell by 30%.

In 2025, notary services saw the sharpest rise in prices. Prices in this sector rose by 9.3%. At this, the cost of notarizing a will rose the most (+33%). Besides, the cost of veterinary services and travel in compartment carriages increased over the year. Prices for such tickets increased by about 20%. The cost of travel by minibus also increased by 16%.

Avtodor is considering increasing the cost of travel on toll roads in 2026. This is due to rising inflation and increased road maintenance costs. There are currently 14 toll roads in russia.

russia’s  car market has fallen  by 7.8% in monetary terms. Even sharp price increases could not compensate for the collapse in physical sales volumes. Revenue from new car sales accounted for 33% of the market, which is by 18.4% worse than in 2024. In addition, the share of passenger cars older than 10 years in russia increased from 48.9% in 2015 to 72.2% in 2025. The situation is even more serious in the light commercial vehicle segment: the share of old cars increased from 58.8% to 76%. According to experts, the average age of a car in russia is now about 17 years, which is almost twice as much as ten years ago.

By the end of 2025, 114,408 people were wanted in russia for hiding from the authorities, investigators, or the courts. This is almost by 31,400 people more than a year earlier. In other words, the number of wanted persons increased by 37.8% over the year.

“Problems with uploading videos to Telegram are caused by restrictions that are gradually being imposed on the messenger due to its refusal to cooperate with russia’s authorities,” said deputy chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy under the federation council of the rf.

In Ivanovo region, land was received by officials, not by people from large families who were waiting in queue. Real large families, who are legally entitled to preferential real estate, were either not allocated plots or were offered places on swampland.

The price of motor fuel in kama region continues to rise. In particular, in the perm territory, the price of motor petrol increased by 12 kopecks during the week from January 13 to 19, 2026. Currently, the cost of one liter of fuel is 64.61 rubles. From January 13 to 19, fuel prices changed in 53 regions of russia. The most noticeable increase in prices occurred in ivanovo region (+0.9%)

“EU sanctions against belarusian potash will most likely be extended after February 28,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.

Latvian media holding TV3 Group’s TV channels will show advertisements during the performances of belarusians and russians at the Olympic Games in Italy. While broadcasting the European Luge Championships last week, TV6 also showed commercial breaks during the performances of russian athletes.

belarus’ gross external debt for the first three quarters of 2025 increased by 6.2% to $37,152.8 million. Over the first nine months of last year, this figure increased by $2,184.4 million.

lukashenko has acknowledged that belarusian doctors continue to treat russian soldiers returning from captivity. “I will be frank: when the special military operation began, I was in favor of immersing our doctors (and not only military ones) in the reality of what is happening there,” lukashenko said.