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

“I assured my colleagues in the Verkhovna Rada that we would strengthen military and political support for Ukraine and provide reliable security guarantees. Our military support for Ukraine will continue at the level of at least 0.25 % of GDP,” said Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania Juozas Olekas.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands David van Weel has announced additional support for the investigation of international crimes in Ukraine and the reform of the Economic Security Bureau. EUR 10 million will be allocated to these projects.

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has said that by the end of 2025, the PURL initiative to purchase American weapons for Ukraine could attract additional $2 billion.

The Ukrainian Navy received new Combat Boat 90 boats from Sweden and Norway.

Ukraine and Romania are working on joint projects within the SAFE initiative. “Romania remains committed to supporting Ukraine. We are interested in increasing regional production facilities and modernizing the defense industry through joint projects,” said Minister of  Defence of  Romania Liviu-Ionut Mosteanu.

“Ukraine and the EU have agreed to study measures to help Ukrainian exporters enter their traditional markets in third countries, which will provide additional commercial opportunities for Ukraine and contribute to global food security,” reads  a statement on the entry into force of the updated trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine.

Special Envoy for Ukrainians in the EU Ylva Johansson has  said that about 4.7 million Ukrainian refugees are currently living in the European Union.

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US President Donald Trump intends to increase pressure on putin if the latter  does not agree to end the war in Ukraine. This was stated by US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, who emphasized  that sanctions are only part of the measures envisaged by the White House. “We have imposed these sanctions. We plan to stick to them,” – the Ambassador stressed that President Donald Trump will monitor compliance with the restrictive measures he has imposed on russia.

Minister of Defence of Belgium Theo Francken has warned russia of severe consequences if it attempts to strike European cities. “[If putin launches a missile at Brussels], it will be a blow to the heart of NATO, and then we will wipe moscow off the map,” the Minister said.

The volume of russian–Chinese trade has declined  by almost 10 %. Chinese car deliveries to russia decreased  by 55 %.

In 2025, Sberbank launched a large-scale wave of staff cuts, affecting more than 13,500 employees. Following the bank, the wave of layoffs spread to other large companies, including VK and MTS.

The share of stage three impaired loans in Sberbank’s portfolio reached 4.8 % by the end of September, which is by one-third higher than at the beginning of the year (3.7 %).

Mortgage defaults are on the rise in russia. Currently, the volume of overdue mortgage debt for the purchase of finished housing in the rf  has exceeded RUB 156 billion. This is by 75 % more than at the beginning of 2025.

Sales of new semi-trailers in russia in January-September decreased  by 60.2 % year-on-year to 14,460 units. The negative trend in September was -62.7 % year-on-year,  and -6.1 % compared to August.

Average retail prices for vodka in russia rose by 15.3 % over the year. Rising prices for grain, which is used as raw material, increased costs of electricity, logistics, components, and borrowing costs –  they all directly affect production costs.

The production of suitcases and bags in russia in 2024 amounted to 23.0 million units, having decreased  by 43.1 % compared to 2023.

The share of young professionals  (under 35 years of age) in the russian agricultural sector is only 9 %. The annual demand for new specialists is about 160,000 people.

The government of the rf intends to attract more migrant workers from India, China, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and African countries in 2026. The quota for them is planned to be set at 279,000 people, which is by 20 % more than this year.

roskomnadzor is preparing to significantly expand the technical network used to block Internet traffic and track users. The next stage of censorship of the russian Internet will be the blocking of Telegram and WhatsApp – the most popular messengers among russians, each with an audience of over 90 million users. The kremlin seeks to control not only information on the network, but also routes and methods of traffic transmission, so that the russian internet can function in isolation and, if necessary, be turned on or off at will.

The state duma plans to ban private companies from using foreign software, following the example of state-owned companies.

The ministry of justice of the rf has added the song “Roses Die on Lawns, and Hooligans – in Red Zones” to its register of extremist materials.

russia’s military academies are refusing to accept from cadets the reports of voluntary giving up  studying.

The fsb demands from  russian banks to establish operational and investigative systems by 2027. These are needed to store correspondence, voice messages, videos, and other content sent by users of banking programs.

The largest increase in antidepressant prices over the past year was recorded in Perm region (by 22 %) and  Sverdlovsk region (by 15 %). On average, the increase in russia was about 5 %.

Mayor of Strezhevoy in Tomsk region Valery Denichenko, threatened residents with “problems” for dislikes and critical comments under posts related to the war against Ukraine.

In Azov, tables in the school dining rooms have been divided between poor children and children of participants in the “special military operation”.  Schoolchildren  from low-income families are given breakfasts consisting of wheat porridge, bread, and tea. At the same time, breakfasts and lunches of the children of participants in the war against Ukraine and from large families include pilaf, meatballs, chicken, and soup. The menus for poor schoolchildren and children of war participants vary greatly in other regions of the country too.

The authorities of the Republic of Sakha intend to change the procedure for electing heads of municipal entities. According to the draft amendments, heads of districts and city districts will no longer be elected directly by residents.

There is a shortage of insulin in the temporarily occupied areas of Zaporizhzhia region. There is also an acute shortage of medical personnel: the shortage of  doctors of the highest category is about 50 %, and of other categories – about 20-30%.

“Sanctions against the belarusian regime have already been imposed, and the EU is ready to take additional appropriate measures if such actions continue. The European Union will not tolerate any hybrid campaigns directed against the EU or any of its member states,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said in a statement on the intrusion of weather balloons into Lithuania’s airspace.

The Lithuanian government’s decision to close border crossing points with belarus is the right one. This opinion was expressed by the country’s President Gitanas Nausėda. He did not rule out the possibility of applying other measures of influence to official minsk.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys has called on Brussels to impose additional sanctions on minsk’s banking and aviation sectors to curb lukashenko’s  “cross-border crime”.  He also believes that his country should “put an end to the serf mentality” on the issue of belarus.

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in belarus Nils Muižniek has pointed out discrimination and politically motivated persecution in the public and private sectors, groundless and politically motivated restrictions on access to professions, and the punishment of unjustly imprisoned persons in the form of hard, dangerous forced labor for little or no pay.

In more than three years of its existence, only 63,000 people, or 1.52 % of the working population, have joined the state voluntary pension insurance system in belarus.

In the first nine months of 2025, compared to the same period last year, the number of foreigners coming to belarus for work increased 1.5 times – from 21,000 to 32,000 people. Against the background of the influx of foreigners into the country, there has been a 17 % increase in crimes committed by foreign citizens. Their share in the overall crime structure increased compared to the same period last year and amounted to 3.4 %.

More than half (54 %) of workers coming to belarus are citizens of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Besides, there has been a significant increase in the number of workers from India and Nepal. Most of the people coming to belarus for work are men (71.7 %). They are employed in blue-collar jobs.

Customers of belarusian “Alfa-Bank”, which was hit by the European Union’s 19th  package of sanctions against russia, now have problems with adding new cards to the popular Apple Pay mobile payment service. It is impossible to link new cards to the service at all.

During lukashenko’s rule, school history textbooks have been rewritten seven times.