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

US President Donald Trump has stated that he currently sees an opportunity to achieve peace in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s international partners are already actively working on the content of the EU’s anti-russian sanctions, which will be included in the next 19th package. It is expected to be ready by the end of August 2025.

Canada has joined the EU and the United Kingdom in supporting a reduction in the price cap for russian oil from $60 to $47.6. “Our government has been a steadfast ally to Ukraine, and we will continue to support them in defending their territorial integrity, sovereignty, and peace for their people,” said Minister of Finance of Canada François-Philippe Champagne.

The EU Council has approved the fourth tranche of over EUR 3.2 billion in support of Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility program after the satisfactory fulfillment of a number of necessary conditions and reforms.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski, at the Lublin Triangle summit (together with Romania and Moldova), stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine and Moldova on their path to the EU and suggested creation of a regional media hub on Polish territory.

India’s largest state-owned oil refiners, Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum, have purchased at least 22 million barrels of non-russian oil for delivery in September and October, after the US pressured India to stop buying from russia.

Authorities of Iran are becoming increasingly irritated by russia’s position, which Tehran has been supporting with ammunition and UAVs. Disagreements are coming to the surface amid moscow’s weakening dependence on Tehran.

Authorities of Romania are considering a scenario in which russia deliberately contaminated a large amount of Azerbaijani oil supplied to the OMV Petrom refinery as part of a hybrid war.

Customers of Europe’s largest digital bank Revolut have begun receiving notifications that the bank no longer accepts transfers from russia, even through third countries. Violation of the restrictions may result in the account being blocked or closed. The ban applies to any sources from the rf, not just those subject to sanctions.

Freezing people’s deposits, which is being talked about a lot in russian government circles, will mess up russia’s financial system and economy. This is what the deputy governor of the Bank of russia, Zabotkin, said.

The market price of petrol in the rf keeps hitting new highs: it increased by 3-4 % within a week.

“Gazprom Neft”’s net profit in the first half of the year fell 1.8 times.

In the first half of 2025, Rosfinmonitoring added about 1,700 individuals and more than 180 organizations to its list of terrorists and extremists.

Since the start of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ramzan Kadyrov and 29 members of his family have received at least 146 awards. Most of the awards (82) were given to Kadyrov and his relatives by themselves.

The share of domestic goods sales in belarusian retail outlets in the first half of 2025 was 54.6 % (compared to 57.9% in the same period in 2024 and 60.9 % in 2023). The negative situation was recorded in all regions and the capital.

On the fifth anniversary of the rigged presidential election in belarus, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU would continue to support the democratic aspirations of belarusian people and insist on the release of political prisoners. “When the time comes for a democratic transition, the European Union will be ready. We stand by our promise to mobilize a EUR 3 billion support package for a democratic belarus,” von der Leyen emphasized.

“In belarus, more than 1,100 political prisoners remain in prison, even five years after the rigged presidential election. They are being severely punished for their courageous position on freedom, democracy, and human rights. The regime must release all political prisoners,” Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on the fifth anniversary of the presidential election in the rb.

lukashenko had been seeking an interview with Time journalist Simon Shuster for several months. The journalist himself recounted this. “lukashenko ‘wanted to appear as an honest mediator’—but all he did was kept asking the USA to treat putin with respect.” Also, according to him, representatives of the belarusian government were interested in the cost of publication in Time. Shuster called ukashenko’s regime “one of the most repressive and isolated in the world”. Under the current government, belarus has “terrible relations and virtually no trade with four of its five neighbors, and is almost entirely dependent on the fifth — russia”.

lukashenko has instructed the state apparatus not to save on funding for the State Security Committee. This year, the agency was to be allocated more than 420 million rubles. This is by 121 % (or 2.2 times) more than in 2020. For comparison: over the previous five years – from 2015 to 2020 – the difference in spending was 64 %, or 1.64 times.

In the five years since the 2020 protests, more than 100,000 cases of repression have been recorded in belarus: searches, short- and long-term detentions, interrogations, etc.

lukashenko will now also be responsible for sewage systems. His powers in matters of water supply and drainage are to be enshrined in a special law. In recent years, the dictator has repeatedly stated that he is transferring some of his powers to other bodies so that not everything depends on his position. Meanwhile, it is clear that even toilet problems cannot be resolved without his intervention.

belarusian prankster and activist Vladislav Bokhan has persuaded teachers at some schools in temporarily occupied Crimea to ring bells to fight UAVs. To this end, he sent them instructions on how to assemble an “Acoustic Bell Defense Device”. Bokhan got the idea for the “anti-drone device” from a moscow archpriest who said during a church service that only bells can help fight enemy drones that use “fiber optics”. Teachers at some schools followed the instructions and sent Bokhan photo reports in which they photographed each step of assembling the “Acoustic Bell Defense Device” out of foil.