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

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys has said that Ukraine should be fully integrated into plans to create a “wall of drones” to protect NATO’s borders, as it has the experience and know-how for this.

President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel has spoken  in favor of maintaining the initiative to supply ammunition to Ukraine.

UN Human Rights Office has released a report documenting massive cases of ill-treatment of civilians detained in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

NORDA Dynamics, a Ukrainian startup specializing in the development of autonomous drone control systems, has received $1 million in investment.

As part of the 19th package of anti-russian sanctions, the European Commission is preparing restrictions against 13 russian citizens and 18 russian organizations, including russia’s largest gold mining company, Polyus. The company, which ranks fourth in the world in terms of production, is already on the blacklists of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The new sanctions package for the first time may include restrictions on tourism.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has accused russia of violating NATO airspace. “Your (rf’s) reckless actions risk direct armed confrontation between NATO and russia. Our alliance is defensive, but be under no illusion, we stand ready to defend NATO’s skies and NATO’s territory. If we need to confront planes operating in NATO space without permission then we will do so,” Cooper said.

Minister of Finance of the FRG Lars Klingbeil has said that the recent incursions of russian aircraft on NATO’s eastern flank justify his government’s decision to significantly increase spending on the armed forces as never before. “putin is testing NATO. No one believes it happened by accident,” he said. As noted, next year, defense spending is expected to rise to EUR 108 billion – a record high after the Cold War.

Minister of Defence of Sweden Pål Jonson has said that it is necessary to strengthen preparations for an armed conflict due to the threat from russia. “We have to adopt a new European mentality – from thinking about peace to being ready for wartime,” he emphasized.

“russia should be in no doubt: NATO and Allies will employ, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military tools to defend ourselves and deter all threats from all directions,” reads the statement following the meeting of the North Atlantic Council, which met at Estonia’s request under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty and considered the situation regarding the violation of airspace by russian aircraft.

Minister of Defence of Estonia Hanno Pevkur has said that his country is ready to accept British fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen does not rule out russia’s involvement in the drone incident that shut down Copenhagen Airport.

Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre has said that russia had violated Norwegian airspace three times during the spring and summer of this year.

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the United States, Japan, and South Korea have expressed serious concern over russia’s increased military cooperation with the DPRK and called on moscow to comply with UN Security Council resolutions and immediately cut off all military ties with Pyongyang.

Since the beginning of 2025, Finland has deported 104 citizens of the rf.

Kenya’s authorities have launched an investigation into the possible sale of several Kenyan citizens into slavery in russia. They were lured into the russian army and was captured by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The reason for this was reports about a 36-year-old track and field athlete, Evans Kibet, who was deceived into signing a contract with the ministry of defence of the rf.

“Today, I tell you with all confidence that the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and European future of our country are under threat. the kremlin is spending hundreds of millions of euros to buy hundreds of thousands of votes on both banks of the Dniester and abroad,” said President of Moldova Maia Sandu.

A week before the elections, 74 people were detained in Moldova on suspicion of organizing russian-sponsored riots.

A new price hike will follow the increase in the value added tax in russia, which is being considered by the government. This was stated by head of the russian union of industrialists and entrepreneurs, Aleksandr Shokhin, who called the VAT increase “the most unpleasant tax innovation for business and the population”.

Minister of finance of the rf Siluanov has said that next year the share of oil and gas revenues in the budget will be reduced by almost a third. In recent years, the oil and gas sector has accounted for 30-40 % of russian budget revenues. However, next year, it is planned that energy revenues will provide only 22 % of all treasury revenues.

In the first half of 2025, “Tatneft” produced 13.42 million tons of oil, which is by 1.8 % less than in the same period last year.

The boards of directors of 22 large companies recommended interim dividends for the first half of the year in the amount of RUB 341.8 billion, which is almost twice lower than in the same period in 2024. For example, “Gazprom Neft” reduced its payments from RUB 246.4 billion to RUB 82 billion, and “Tatneft” –2.7 times, to RUB 33.4 billion. The net profit of the companies declined significantly over the six months. Metallurgists mostly refused to make payments.

In 2025, revenues of coal companies may decline by 12 % to RUB 1.55 trillion – the lowest since 2020, when the figure was slightly above RUB 1 trillion. The share of unprofitable coal companies may rise to 71 % by the end of the year, up from 48% in 2024. This is a record high since at least 2019. russian coal miners’ pre-tax losses for the six months amounted to RUB 172 billion, having exceeded the figure for the whole of 2024. Coal production in russia has been declining for the third year in a row and will amount to about 436 million tons in 2025.

“gazprom” group will liquidate about ten intermediate or non-operating companies in its structure.

russian authorities are planning to extend the ban on petrol exports from russia and introduce a ban on diesel exports by the end of 2025.

The governor of Nizhny Novgorod region has publicly reported problems with fuel at filling stations.

The AvtoVAZ plant has virtually stopped mass production of the Lada Aura business sedan – the line shut down in July 2025. The reason was extremely low sales: demand was so weak that the plant did not resume production. Investments in the project amounted to 3.2 billion rubles.

By August 2025, salaries at russian defense companies had decreased for the first time since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The income offered in vacancies for defense sector employees fell by 10 % compared to 2024.

The average cost of confectionery fats and palm oil in russia has increased by 20 % year-on-year. The average cost of thick yogurt and cheese also increased by more than 20 % over the year.

Large russian banks have begun to actively reset credit card limits for customers. Most complaints are received against “Renaissance Bank”, VTB, and “Pochta Bank”. Banks explain this as an attempt to reduce the debt burden on customers. In fact, it is becoming unprofitable for banks to issue credit cards due to the growth of financial literacy among customers: people are paying off their debts on time and, in fact, using borrowed money at 0 % per annum.

Sales of books for children in bookstores in the rf in 2024 in monetary terms decreased by 2.9 % compared to the previous year, or by 240 million rubles. And over the past four years, sales of children’s books in russian bookshops have decreased by almost RUB 1 billion.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services Sergey Pakhomov has acknowledged the problem of a significant increase in tariffs compared to 2024. For example, in Belgorod, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, and the Republic of Khakassia, hot water tariffs have increased by 30 to 40 %. In Vologda region, Magadan, Udmurtia, and Chukotka, the increase is between 43 and 80 %. Magadan, the Republic of Ingushetia, and Kalmykia were the best performers in wastewater disposal, Magadan region and the Republic of Ingushetia – in heat supply, and Krasnodar Krai, Perm Krai, and the Republic of Mordovia – in district heating.

For decades, russia has been unable to complete the Krapivino HPP in Kemerovo region because of a lack of funding and companies interested in it. Construction of the 300 MW hydroelectric power plant on the Tom River began in 1976, but in 1989, when the project was about 50 % complete, work was suspended due to funding problems and environmental protests. This year, residents have been informed that construction has been frozen again.

In St. Petersburg, by 15 % less housing was commissioned than in 2024. The housing starts and construction volumes have been declining  in the city and region for the third year in a row. In addition to general market trends – a high key rate, the abolition of subsidized mortgages and declining sales – in the city, this is due to strict regulation and increased social responsibility of developers. Currently, about 20 % of housing under construction across russia may experience delays in commissioning.

In 2024-2025, almost six thousand cases of human rights violations were registered in russia. This is stated in the report of the UN Special Rapporteur. The report refers in particular to persecution for political reasons. At least 85 journalists and activists have faced persecution. In 2025, about 300 well-known human rights defenders, journalists, and public figures were subjected to pressure. According to the report, more than 900 cases of pressure on media outlets were recorded in 2024. 60 media organizations were blocked or threatened. In the cultural and educational spheres, 536 cases of interference and censorship were recorded from 2022 to 2025, having affected 359 organizations.

In the convoy units of the russian ministry of internal affairs of the rf, “shortage of personnel is 1/3,” said Aleksandr Gorovoy, the first deputy head of the department. He added that due to the shortage of personnel, other services have to be involved in convoys, such as police officers, district police officers, traffic police and operatives. According to Gorovoy, in 2024 alone, the russian ministry of internal affairs escorted four million citizens held in pre-trial detention centers and special reception centers.

The shortage of penitentiary system staff in a number of regions reaches 50 %, – said deputy director of the federal penitentiary service of the rf Aleksandr Rozin. According to him, the situation in some units is “close to critical”, while on average, the country’s staffing shortage is 37.8 %.

Since the beginning of 2025, the State Border Guard of Latvia has recorded more than 10 thousand attempts to illegally cross the border from belarus.

Latvia will flood the drained swamps on the border with belarus to create natural barriers on the eastern border with russia and belarus. Such swamps could seriously hamper the movement of armored vehicles and force them to move along roads, where they would be an easy target.

The draft budget of belarus for 2026 already includes new tax rates aimed at increasing the fairness of taxation. Amendments to the Tax Code provide for an increase in tax rates for high-income citizens (by the regime’s standards): they will pay income tax at an additional rate. Besides, the authorities will increase real estate tax rates for citizens who own housing that exceeds the average parameters in terms of its physical size, square meters, as defined by the authorities.

Industrial production in the rb decreased by 0.8 % year-on-year over the past eight months, and by 4.2 % year-on-year in August. Now the industry is actively accumulating finished goods in warehouses, and at a rate similar to that during the global crisis of 2008-2009 and in 2012-2014, when the authorities artificially accelerated the belarusian economy. The record volume of finished goods inventories, in addition to risks to the financial position of enterprises, indicates that even with a revival in external demand, the rate of industrial output growth may remain restrained.

Over the past four years, the total area of commissioned residential buildings in the rb decreased by 8.1 %. The number of completed apartments decreased by 17.2 %.

Almost 1 million 628 thousand residents of belarus have now exceeded the age of 65, which is 18 % of the total population. In 2010, the number of people of this age in belarus was 14 %, which indicates aging of the population.