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

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said that EU countries are developing “fairly clear plans” for the potential deployment of troops in Ukraine as part of post-war security guarantees. She also said that Bulgaria is providing a third of the total volume of weapons supplied by the European Union to Ukraine.

European leaders will meet in Paris on September 4 to continue negotiations on future security guarantees for Ukraine.

“We are trying to end it (the war) as quickly as possible. But certainly not at the price of Ukraine’s capitulation”, Chancellor of the FRG Friedrich Merz said once again regarding the end of russia’s war against Ukraine.

Rheinmetall has opened a new ammunition factory in Germany, which is almost fully automated and can produce 350,000 shells per year. The first 25,000 rounds of ammunition from the new plant will be sent to Ukraine this year. In 2026, the company plans to produce at least 150,000 shells, of which more than 100,000 are intended for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told putin that Ankara is working to find ways to bring about a just and lasting end to the war in Ukraine. Erdogan has also stressed that he is ready to continue hosting talks between Ukrainian and russian delegations in Istanbul in order to achieve peace and end the war as soon as possible.

Minister of National Defence of Poland Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, in a speech at commemorative events marking the start of World War II, warned against becoming accustomed to the war against Ukraine unleashed by russia.

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President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has confirmed that russia remains the main threat to European security. “putin has not changed and will not change. He is a predator who has started four different wars in the last 25 years. We see that he can only be kept in check through strong deterrence,” she said.

“You face russia in Kaliningrad, you face belarus on your border. You live under geopolitical and economic pressure, as well as constant military and hybrid threats. For example, the instrumentalization of migrants is something that Lithuania knows very well,” President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen confirmed the European Union’s support for Lithuania as a frontline EU state bordering russia and belarus.

No concessions to putin can guarantee Europe’s security. This opinion was expressed by Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk.

China’s Heihe Rural Commercial Bank has stopped accepting payments from russia. The reason is the introduction of sanctions against the bank by the European Union.

Output in the civilian manufacturing sectors (excluding oil refining) has been declining since the beginning of the year. This decline slowed down in the second quarter but accelerated again in July: minus 0.6 % per month.

Business activity in russia continues to decline. The manufacturing PMI index, calculated by S&P Global based on company surveys, stood at 48.7 points in August (above 50 points indicates growth in activity, below 50 points indicates a decline). The index has remained in the decline zone for the third month in a row.

The retail segment of the rf’s leasing market showed a record decline in the first half of 2025: the volume of new businesses fell by 49 % year-on-year, which is almost twice the decline in the corporate segment.

Sunflower oil production in russia has decreased sharply: at the end of August, output fell by 11 % year-on-year to 6.94 million tons. At this, the total volume of oil production in the country decreased by 7 % year-on-year to 9.47 million tons. These figures are related to the shutdown of some factories, whose losses have grown to 20 %.

On September 1, amendments to russian legislation came into force, once again tightening bans and restrictions on so-called “foreign agents”. In particular, they will be prohibited from engaging in any educational and outreach activities. The russian book union has also warned that bookstores that sell books by “foreign agents” after September 1 will lose their privileges, in particular, they will not be able to participate in municipal competitions and supply books to schools and libraries.

In 22 regions of the rf, there are fewer young teachers under the age of 35 than those above 60 years of age. The most significant imbalance was recorded in Karachay-Cherkessia (23 % elderly versus 14 % young), Kabardino-Balkaria (22 % versus 13 %), Smolensk (26 % versus 16 %), Pskov (26 % versus 17 %), and Novgorod (23 % versus 17 %) regions.

Due to the crisis in the russian coal industry, 23 enterprises have been shut down. Applications for state support have been submitted by 129 coal mines and open-pit mines, which account for 80-85 % of production in russia.

The fuel crisis that has engulfed russia has reached the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine. In the so-called “LPR”, filling stations are “experiencing a temporary shortage of AI-92 and AI-95 petrol”.

In the first half of this year, “Ural Airlines” reduced its passenger traffic by 7 % compared to the same period last year. Among the reasons – difficulties in maintaining the airworthiness of Airbus A320neo aircrafts, the international geopolitical situation, sanctions restrictions, the introduction of temporary flight restrictions at a number of russian airports, changes in prices for aviation fuel, airport services, aircraft maintenance, household incomes, and others. Traffic on “Ural Airlines”’ domestic routes decreased by 16 %, while traffic to and from CIS countries decreased by 6 %.

The issue of compensating airlines for financial losses due to flight restrictions is not currently on the agenda, said Minister of Transport of the rf Andrei Nikitin. The total passenger traffic of russian airlines for the first seven months of 2025 decreased by 1.7 % to 62.1 million people, with domestic flights alone having declined  by 2.6 % to 46.8 million.

Freight loading volumes on RZD network in August 2025 amounted to 92.2 million tons, which is  by 5.4% less than in the same period last year.

In russia, life will become much more difficult for owners of vehicles registered abroad. In case of a traffic violation, the deadline for paying fines will be reduced from the current 60 days to 24 hours. If the fine is not paid on time, the police will have the right to tow the vehicle to an impound lot, and its owner may be arrested for 15 days.

Car prices in russia will not fall in the autumn and winter of 2025. Last year’s remaining cars will be sold off in the summer. Since there are few cars left from 2023, almost the entire stock has already been sold. There are about 100–150 thousand cars from 2024 – not enough for large-scale sales.

In the first half of 2025, Moscow Credit Bank reduced its net profit 2.8 times to 6.9 billion rubles compared to 19.5 billion rubles a year earlier.

Sales of smartphones and tablets on major marketplaces in russia declined in August 2025. Compared to the same period last year, there was a 29 % decline in sales in terms of units and a 26 % decline in monetary terms.

A draft law has been submitted to the state duma to recover social support expenses, including education and medical care, from foreigners who have been stripped of russian citizenship.

On September 1, a law came into force in russia prohibiting business activities on dacha plots and hiring workers to harvest crops.

Flower prices in St. Petersburg have risen by 10-13 % over the year. The average price for a bouquet in stores is about 4,100 rubles, and in online stores – 4,700 rubles.

The average cost of a minimally equipped school corner in 2025 is 15,000 rubles, which is by about 7 % higher than in 2024.

russia should introduce a complete ban on dating sites because they “corrupt young people”, said head of a federal anti-corruption project and a well-known author of denunciations Vitaly Borodin.

Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of Poland Marcin Kierwiński considers negotiations between Warsaw and Minsk unlikely. In his opinion, belarus is a satellite of the rf, so any attempt to resolve issues bilaterally seems naive.

belarusians returning home from abroad have begun to be summoned for preventive talks with the kgb. The crackdown has even reached those who did not participate in the protests after the 2020 presidential election in belarus and did not criticize the regime.

In July, belarus’ foreign trade deficit in goods and services continued to grow. Exports of goods decreased by 2.5 % to $22.62 billion in the first seven months of the year, while imports rose by 2.6 % to $26.18 billion.

In Berezovsky district of belarus, a pensioner was sentenced to 10 days in prison for attempting to meet with lukashenko and complain.