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

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands David van Weel has announced the allocation of EUR 10 million to the United Kingdom’s cybersecurity program for Ukraine.

Latvia will send to Ukraine a shipment of military aid and 65 vehicles donated by AS “Latvenergo” in cooperation with AS “Sadales tīkls”.

Norway will provide Sumy region with a prefabricated bridge and medical equipment worth EUR 2 million.

Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany Reem Alabali Radovan has called on private companies to invest in Ukraine. “Reconstruction of Ukraine is impossible without a strong economy. That is why we continue to support the stability of Ukrainian companies. Reconstruction also opens up opportunities for the German economy”, she stressed.

Estonia and Ireland have signed an agreement on the reconstruction of the intensive care unit at a hospital in Zhytomyr region and training for medical personnel.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that recent russian air strikes damaged substations in Ukraine critical to nuclear safety and security. “Threats to nuclear safety remain very real and ever-present,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.

rf

New Zealand has expanded sanctions against the rf and its oil supply chains. This was announced by Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters. “New Zealand has imposed sanctions on 65 ships in the shadow fleet that transport russian oil, which is a key source of funding for russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” he said. Sanctions have also been imposed on individuals from belarus, iran, and north korea who are involved in processing and transportation of russian oil, as well as in facilitating oil-related payments. New Zealand’s sanctions list includes “Naftan” and “Belneftekhim”. Besides, two north korean banks, two individuals from the dprk and iran, as well as the russian maritime register and two stevedoring companies operating in the ports of Novorossiysk and Tuapse have also been sanctioned.

Authorities of Sweden no longer recognize insurance policies issued by russian companies. russian citizens who have submitted such documents are denied entry or have their valid Schengen visas canceled.

Exports of russian petroleum products in October decreased to a record low for the entire period of full-scale war in Ukraine. Average daily exports in the first 26 days of this month amounted to 1.89 million barrels, the lowest figure since January 2022. The decline in exports occurred against the background of a record decline in oil refining volumes in russia. In October, they fell to 4.86 million barrels per day, almost by 10 % lower compared to July figures and to the lowest level in at least the last five years.

In 2026 “Gazprom” will cut its investment programs by a third.

“russia’s Post” has reported a 2.2-fold increase in losses for the first nine months of the year. “russia’s Post”’s revenue for the nine months decreased by 1.7 % compared to the same period in 2024. In particular, revenue from postal services in January-September declined by 4.5 %, from commercial activities – by 3.7 %, and from money intermediation – by 9.3 %.

AvtoVAZ is not expected to generate annual net profit until 2028.

russia’s agricultural machinery market is experiencing a sharp decline: according to the results of the first nine months of 2025, shipments to the domestic market decreased by 26.5 % in monetary terms, having amounted to 114.3 billion rubles. In terms of units, the decline was even more significant: deliveries of combine harvesters decreased almost 1.5 times (to 1,570 units), of agricultural tractors – by 37 % (to 1,971 units), and of grain cleaning machines – by 39 % (to 474 units). The key reason for the collapse was the catastrophic situation with the farmers’ solvency.

For the first time in a long time, food sales in russia began to decline in real terms – in units, kilograms, and liters. In September–October, this decline amounted to 5 % year-on-year and affected most product categories. Sales of milk declined by 8 %, of rice – by 10 %, of buckwheat and pork – by 9 %. In monetary terms, retail trade continues to grow, but this is the result of rising prices: beef rose by 26 %, milk – by 25 %, rye bread – by 24 %, and potatoes – by 38 %. As a result, the average check is growing, but the number of purchases in supermarkets is decreasing –by 2 % in January–September. First of all, people are saving on meat: the number of purchases in meat shops decreased by 7 % year-on-year.

“The shortage of medical personnel in russia has reached 80 %, especially outside large cities,” said speaker of the state duma Vyacheslav Volodin.

Head of the russian union of industrialists and entrepreneurs Aleksandr Shokhin has said that against the background of high key rates, the decline in investment in fixed capital in russia in 2026 may turn out to be deeper than the government’s official forecast and amount to 1.5 %.

Every third russian expresses concern about his/her future pension, with 22 % really worrying about their financial security in old age. 70 % of respondents believe that they will not be able to significantly influence the size of their future pension.

russian telecom operators have been ordered to block SMS and voice calls used to register with Telegram and WhatsApp.

Head of roskomnadzor Andrey Lipov has proposed abandoning the requirement for consent to process personal data. According to him, collecting consent from citizens for “every action” is an extremely outdated method.

The russian orthodox church will create a prayer for “bringing to reason” the women who want to obtain an abortion.

Inflation in the temporarily occupied Crimea amounted to 0.8 % in September, in annual terms – 10.4 %. Eggs became more expensive due to logistics, meat – due to feed costs and reduced supply, petrol – due to supply disruptions and reduced production, and electronics and household appliances – due to higher component and logistics costs.

The catering industry in Nizhny Novgorod region is short of about 1,500 cooks.

“We react quite harshly and declare that we will not tolerate but will respond decisively to any violations of our airspace... We want to combine sanctions against belarus and russia. And we will submit this issue to the European Commission for consideration. This also applies to the closure of borders. This is definitely a preventive measure, and we hope that it will be effective,” said Prime Minister of Lithuania Inga Rugienė.

belarus is once again in the bottom third of the rule of law global ranking. According to the World Justice Project’s data for 2025, the country ranks 105th out of 143, maintaining last year’s position and showing some of the lowest results in the world in terms of restrictions on government powers, transparency of governance, and respect for human rights.

Migrants’ activity on the border between belarus and the EU in October is by 43 % higher than a year ago.

Authorities of the rb intend to tighten trade regulations: a draft of a new government resolution states that shops can only be closed with the consent of the local executive committee. This will deprive companies of the right to independently decide which shops to keep and which to close, and will increase their dependence on officials.

As of October 1, 2025, there were 217,579 individual entrepreneurs in belarus. This is by 10.3 % fewer than a year earlier.

In the rb, a YouTube channel with belarusian-language children’s fairy tales (the project “Budzma Dzetsiam”) has been recognized as “extremist” one.