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

Ukraine has synchronized its sanctions against russia with the European Union’s ones.

The Council of Europe and the European Parliament have reached a preliminary agreement on measures to stimulate investment in defense within the current EU budget in order to implement the so-called “ReArm Europe” plan. The agreement also includes a decision to associate Ukraine with the European Defense Fund. The European Parliament plans to vote on Ukraine’s accession to the European Defense Fund by the end of the year.

Five political parties in Norway have called on the government to use the country’s EUR 1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund to help “push through” a EUR 140 billion EU loan for Ukraine.

Latvia has contributed additional EUR 2.2 million to the initiative to purchase US weapons for Ukraine. Latvia also transferred 21 Patria 6x6 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine.

European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis has stressed the need to provide Ukraine with “reliable” financing commitments in order to unblock new funds from the IMF.

Ukrainian communities will receive EUR 100 million from the European Investment Bank. The funds will be used for projects to restore social and critical infrastructure.

Poland is working on an agreement to import liquefied natural gas from the USA for further supply to Ukraine and Slovakia.

President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda has offered Ukraine assistance with gas supplies in winter.

rf

NATO has overtaken russia in ammunition production. “We are already turning the tide on ammunition. Until recently, russia had been producing more ammunition than all NATO allies combined. But that is no longer the case. Across the Alliance, we are now opening dozens of new production lines and expanding existing ones,” said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Estonia is joining the steering committee of the Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. “This is an important step towards the Tribunal starting its work,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna.

Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden have issued a joint call to impose tariffs on more russian goods and are urging the European Commission to prepare a proposal to that effect. These include iron and steel, inorganic chemicals, and potash fertilizers, which brought the aggressor EUR 5.4 billion in export revenue in 2024.

The European Union is preparing to almost completely stop issuing multiple-entry Schengen visas to russian citizens. The new measure means that russian citizens will mainly be issued with single-entry travel documents.

From January 1, 2026, Germany will stop accepting russian non-biometric foreign passports for entry.

Bulgaria is preparing amendments to legislation which will allow it to take control of the russian oil refinery “Lukoil” in Burgas and sell it to a new owner.

More than 600 criminal proceedings have been initiated in Latvia for violations of sanctions against russia.

Seventeen citizens of the Republic of South Africa are in the Donbas, where they were lured under false pretenses to participate in the war, – the country’s government said on Thursday.

Massive cargo inspections at the border with Kazakhstan have halted a significant portion of imports and may soon lead to supply disruptions. Due to the fight against gray imports entering russia via Kazakhstan, 10 % to 25 % of all consumer imports from China are stuck in border traffic jams. China accounts for approximately 40 % of goods imports, which means that approximately 4-10 % of all russian consumer goods imports are affected.

Since the beginning of 2025, 12 international brands have left the russian market. All of them were in the fashion segment.

The russian federal budget’s oil and gas revenues fdeclined by almost 27 % in October compared to the same period last year. As a result, it may face a shortfall of an additional ₽48 billion in November 2025.

russian banks have sharply tightened mortgage lending: at the end of September, the share of refusals to grant housing loans exceeded 60 % for the first time.

The russian Central Bank’s continued tight monetary policy has had a negative impact on the debt market, with the volume of corporate bond placements having decreased by 22 % at the end of October.

russia will face a shortage of food products in shops if a draft law limiting retail chains’ markups on goods to 15 % is passed.

From October 25 to November 1, sunflower oil prices in russia rose by 24.1 %. Overall, the top price increases for the year were for “Khromoy Medvezhonok” sweets (57.1 %), J7 orange juice (42.9 %), “Oleyna” sunflower oil (33.8 %), “Domik v Derevne” milk with 3.2 % fat content (30.4 %), “Fetaksa” processed cheese product (29.7 %), chicken carcasses (18.8 %), “Matias” herring (15.6 %), and white bread (10.0 %).

russia has started buying apples from the Taliban.

Sales of new passenger cars in russia in October 2025 declined by 3.2 % year-on-year. In the first ten months, the market shrank by 19.9 %. russia’s largest carmaker, AvtoVAZ, saw its sales decrease by 25.8 % in October.

russian regions continue to raise transport taxes to patch holes in local budgets. Following Orenburg and Novosibirsk regions, as well as the Krasnoyarsk Territory, three more regions are planning to increase taxes: Ryazan and Lipetsk regions, as well as the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.

Parking spaces in russia will increase in price by 5–10 % in 2026. According to data for 2025, the average price of a parking space in moscow has reached 3.65 million rubles, having increased by 6.1 % over the year.

“EL5-Energo”’s net profit for the first nine months decreased by 22 %. The company’s assets include three thermal power plants – Konakovskaya, Nevinnomysskaya, and Sredneuralskaya GRES, as well as Azovskaya and Kolskaya wind farms.

russian science, which continues to lose its personnel base amid the war and funding cuts, has lost one in four researchers in the field of medicine over the past 15 years.

At the Vostochny Cosmodrome (Amur region), some of the facilities have been cut off from power due to debts for electricity. Construction of the cosmodrome has been ongoing since 2012. It has been accompanied by numerous corruption scandals, as well as strikes and even workers’ hunger strikes due to delayed wages.

In at least ten regions of russia, patients with chronic kidney disease have stopped receiving the necessary medications on time.

The state duma has proposed introducing medication cards for low-income russians.

russia’a kindergartens have been ordered to create museums dedicated to the “special military operation”.

In 2024, nearly 1,000 women died from domestic violence in russia. This is 47 % of all women intentionally killed in the country – the highest number in the last 15 years.

The rf’s prosecutor general’s office has officially declared the activities of the British non-governmental organization Equal Rights Trust undesirable in the country for allegedly “destroying family values”. The Equal Rights Trust is an international organization founded in 2007 to fight discrimination and promote equality as a fundamental human right.

In moscow, neo-Nazis killed a man, timing the crime to coincide with the rf’s national holiday, “National Unity Day”.

The Road Transport Directorate of Latvia has not renewed existing permits and will not issue new permits for routes (including transit ones) for regular bus passenger transport from Latvia to belarus and russia. According to the administration, “given the current geopolitical situation and threats to national security”, it is advisable to consider preparing a draft order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia to suspend such regular international passenger transport services.

In January–September 2025, belarus’s negative foreign trade balance amounted to more than $4.5 billion.

Overdue debt of the private sector of the rb on loans over the past year increased by 19 %. The debt of individuals on consumer loans increased by almost 27 %.

The debt on loans of mining industry organizations in belarus increased 6.4 times over the year.

All employees of the belarusian metallurgical plant had their bonuses reduced by 60 %. Furnaces at the BMZ are idle due to insufficient load. As a result, in September, the company’s employees were completely deprived of their bonuses for August, and before that, their bonuses were reduced by half.

lukashenko has threatened to introduce paid medical services for belarusians living abroad.

The newspaper of the Yelsk district executive committee has reported that student teams are working in the district’s housing and communal services instead of janitors. It turned out that the teams were not made up of students, but children: pupils from local schools. The newspaper specified that the team consists of 20 schoolchildren from Yelsk, and this is already the fourth “student team” in 2025 to work at the enterprise. How much children are paid and whether they are paid at all – is not reported.