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

Estonia will participate in the purchase of American-made weapons for Ukraine as part of the PURL initiative and is ready to send a military contingent to Ukraine if such a step is approved by the Coalition of the Willing.

Luxembourg plans to join the PURL initiative to purchase weapons from the USA for further transfer to Ukraine. “We will finance a package of already available weapons, mostly manufactured in the USA, for transfer to Ukraine – together with other countries that we have yet to determine,” said Prime Minister of Luxembourg Luc Frieden.

“Austria’s position is one of clear solidarity (with Ukraine), and the same applies to all other EU member states. Our priority must be to stop the killings and the fighting in Ukraine,” Chancellor of Austria Christian Stöcker believes that the European Union should continue to put pressure on russia and become a participant in the peace process.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said he expects clarity on European security guarantees for Ukraine in the near future.

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putin is “perhaps the most dangerous war criminal of our time”, said Chancellor of the FRG Friedrich Merz. “We must be clear about how to deal with war criminals. There is no room for compromise here”, the politician said. According to him, putin will continue the war against Ukraine because he has no reason to cease fire or conclude a peace agreement. However, Merz called on Western countries to create such reasons. “It is difficult to do this by military means, but it is possible by economic means,” said the Chancellor of Germany. According to him, russia can be “brought to a state of economic exhaustion”. In that case, it will not be able to maintain its military machine and continue to seize Ukraine’s territory. To this end, Merz proposed imposing tariffs on countries that continue to trade with russia.

From September 3, the “price cap” on russian oil will be $47.6 per barrel instead of the previous $60.

The United Kingdom has expanded sanctions against russia. Eight individuals and three organizations involved in the forced deportation and ideological indoctrination of Ukrainian children have been added to the list. Among others, the list includes the youth movement “Movement of the First” created on putin’s orders, the organization “Volunteers of Victory” which helps participants in the war against Ukraine, and the akhmat kadyrov Foundation. The latter is headed by the mother of the head of Chechnya, Aymani. London has included her in the sanctions list too. The commander of the Kadyrov police special forces regiment Zamid Chalaev is also subject to restrictions. In 2021, Chalaev claimed that ramzan kadyrov “took him out of a psychiatric hospital” and made him a hero of russia.

Other individuals on the list include deputy prime minister of Tatarstan Leyla Fazleeva and minister of youth affairs Rinat Sadykov. They are also subject to US and EU sanctions. These officials are involved in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to russia and their ideological indoctrination. For the same reason, the British blacklist includes head of the Federal Teenage Center Valery Mayorov, deputy director of one of the departments of the ministry of education Anastasia Akkuratova, head of the Kherson humanitarian staff Natalia Tishchenko and Aleksandr Gurov.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called the kremlin’s policy of “forced deportation, ideological indoctrination, and militarization of Ukrainian children” “disgusting”. In his opinion, this “demonstrates the depths of depravity putin is willing to go to in order to erase the Ukrainian language, culture, and identity.” “Taking children from their homes and trying to forcibly destroy their heritage, raising them with lies and disinformation, is unacceptable,” Lammy stressed.

Australia has expanded sanctions against russia. Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong has said that 14 citizens involved in suppressing political opposition and promoting the war against Ukraine have been added to the list. Among them – businessman Ilham Ragimov, co-founder of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company Andrei Kozitsyn, son of former president of Tatarstan Radik Shaimiev, deputy mayor of moscow Maksim Liksutov, and media manager Kristina Potupchik.

“Pressure on russia must continue. That is why Lithuania has proposed the 19th package of sanctions, which will include “Rosatom”, revenues from the sale of the rf’s oil and gas, and its so-called “shadow fleet”, said President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda.

“This meeting in China shows that countries on the other side of democracy will take advantage of any opportunity to continue this war and try to avoid peace talks,” President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda also said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský has stressed that given russia’s plans to make mobilization year-round, there is no question of russia’s peace plans at this time. “... He (putin) is ready to sacrifice even more lives for his imperial ambitions,” said Lipavský.

In the Czech Republic, one of the political parties is proposing to increase 68 times the property taxes for russians.

Cinemas in Azerbaijan have reduced the number of russian-language films shown. Previously, such screenings accounted for 70 % of all screenings, but now they have declined to 30 %.

Prices for russian PCI coal in China decreased by $5–10 in the third week of August. The decline in prices was caused by poor demand in the Asia-Pacific region.

The deviation of actual oil and gas revenues from the expected monthly volume in russia at the end of August amounted to minus 10.5 billion rubles. Therefore, since April of this year, the ministry of finance of the rf has been selling foreign currency and gold again. The last time it sold currency and gold was in January 2024.

Sales of new passenger cars in russia in August 2025 decreased by 17.6 % year-on-year. In the first eight months, the market shrinked by 23 %.

At the end of August, sales of “Moskvich” cars decreased by 42 % year-on-year.

The average size of an education loan in July 2025 in St. Petersburg was by 18 % higher than in July 2024, amounting to 288,472 rubles. Since the beginning of 2025, demand for state-supported education loans in St. Petersburg has grown by 20 % compared to the same period a year earlier.

In russia, until 2020, cameras with face recognition function were only used in 14 regions, but by September 2025, they had been introduced in at least 68 regions. The peak of installation occurred during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2023, but in 2025, a “second wave” was recorded – cameras were installed or replaced even in places where the system was already in operation. Currently, there are over 1 million CCTV cameras operating in russia, and about a third of them are connected to the facial recognition system. In the coming years, their number will only grow: the ministry of digital development of the rf plans to increase the total number of such cameras to five million by 2030, spending 12 billion rubles on this.

While the kremlin is directing its budget to the war against Ukraine, 30 % of russia’s population still believe that there are real grounds for expecting an improvement in their standard of living and quality of life in the coming year.

Teachers in russia’s schools have been banned from using the terms “tolerance”, “domestic violence”, “gender”, and “bullying” in the educational process. Instead, alternative expressions are recommended: “tolerance” is replaced with “respect” or “friendship between peoples”, “gender” – with “sex”, “bullying” – with “humiliation”, and “domestic violence” – with “psychological violence”.

The state duma is considering the introduction of a single sports uniform in the colors of the russian flag in schools. Even the  USSR did not get to this point.

moscow churches have been ordered to ensure the participation of their members in the city’s religious procession with the patriarch. Each parish must provide at least 50 people. The mass participation is justified by the need to compete with Muslims, who fill the central streets of moscow during Muslim holidays.

Minister of antimonopoly regulation and trade of the rb Artur Karpovich has blamed farmers for the potato shortage this spring. According to him, producers tried to export more of the product abroad, where it could be sold at a profit. However, the official failed to mention that the price discrepancy arose due to the strict restraint of prices in belarus.

Over 4 years, prosecutors in Minsk region alone have filed more than 1,100 applications to the court to have information recognized as “extremist.”

The belarusian dictator, who graduated from university with a degree in history, does not understand the difference between the concepts of “nazism” and “fascism”. “Many people, especially in Europe, will thank us for once again stopping nazism, which could have grown into fascism, in these difficult times,” said lukashenko.