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

“Millions of euros are coming in from allies and partners through the PURL mechanism. Since last summer, we have provided 75% of all missiles that have arrived in Ukraine, which are going to the front, and 90% that are defending the airspace,” said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. He believes that russia’s air attack on Ukraine on the night of February 3 demonstrates russia’s lack of seriousness about peace.

The NATO Secretary General has assured that partner countries are working to urgently transfer air defense missiles from their own reserves to Ukraine. According to him, the allies will also provide more than $15 billion needed to purchase weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the United States.

“This is not diplomacy, this is state terror. Anything less than maximum pressure on the aggressor contributes to the commission of a crime,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna regarding russia’s attack on Ukraine on the night of February 3.

“That’s all there is to putin's promise to US President Donald Trump,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski commented on russia’s massive attack on Ukraine on the night of February 3.

“...We will not allow ourselves and others to be silenced when it comes to unequivocally condemning the criminal actions of modern russia,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG Johann Wadephul rejected russian accusations of “revanchism”.

Over the past week, Ukraine has received more than 38 tons of energy equipment from five countries. Generators, transformers, cogeneration units, and other equipment are also being sent to our country from the EU, Lithuania, Austria, Poland, Finland, France, Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, as well as from UNDP and UNICEF/WASH.

The European Union will soon transfer additional generators and energy equipment to Ukraine.

UNICEF has handed over another 42 generators to Ukraine. The total amount of aid that has arrived is 106 generators with a capacity of 15.1 MW.

The Czech Republic is preparing to send 55 electric generators to Ukraine.

Sweden and Denmark will jointly provide Ukraine with an aid package containing air defense equipment worth 2.6 billion Swedish kronor (EUR 246 million).

The UN Security Council will hold a meeting on February 24 to discuss the consequences of four years of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

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US President Donald Trump has announced a trade agreement with India that provides for a reduction in tariffs on Indian goods to 18% in exchange for the cessation of purchases of russian oil.

“Importing more energy carriers from the United States is part of our strategy to gradually phase out energy imports from russia, with legislation on this coming into force tomorrow (February 3)”,  said European Commission Spokesperson for energy Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.

The European Union may include an embargo on the supply of a number of metals in the 20th  package of sanctions against russia, timed to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. Copper, platinum, iridium, and rhodium may be banned.

The government of the rf is urgently trying to find additional revenue for the federal budget, which continues to suffer from a collapse in oil and gas revenues. Cabinet officials are looking for 1.2 trillion rubles in new money to reduce the treasury deficit. russia’s authorities believe that military spending this year may exceed initial plans (12.9 trillion rubles). At this, oil and gas revenues, which provide every fourth ruble in the budget, may turn out to be significantly lower than expected due to falling oil sales and the unexpectedly strong ruble.

The russian government is also preparing to extend the tax on additional income from hydrocarbon production. The additional income tax is levied four times a year on profits from the production of oil, gas condensate, associated gas, and natural gas. Currently, the rate is 50%.

At the end of 2025, russian banks earned 3.5 trillion rubles in net profit. This is by 8.6%, or 3.8 trillion rubles, less than in 2024.

“The banking crisis, which was previously predicted by our early warning system... has been confirmed according to formal criteria, and a little earlier... a bad debt crisis had already been confirmed,” stated the kremlin-affiliated center for macroeconomic analysis and short-term forecast (CMASF). Its leading indicator also shows high risks of “runs by depositors”.

The ministry of economic development of the rf has stopped working on the state information system “Electronic Ticket” (GIS EP), with which the authorities intended to control the tourism market. The government spent 500 million rubles from the budget on the development of GIS EP.

The ministry of finance of the rf has prepared amendments to the criminal code that introduce criminal liability for obstructing the work of temporary administrations in branches of foreign banks. The mechanism for opening branches of foreign banks has been in place since autumn 2024, but so far no foreign bank has taken advantage of it.

By the end of 2025, the number of operating filling stations in russia had decreased by 451. The reduction in the network mainly affected independent filling stations that are not part of vertically integrated oil companies. The largest number of closures was recorded in the khanty-mansi autonomous district,  moscow, moscow region, and samara region. president of the independent fuel union pavel bazhenov has explained that the closure was caused by local fuel shortages, shipment delays, and the inability of independent networks to keep retail prices down amid rising wholesale prices.

At the end of 2025, passenger traffic at russian airports decreased by 0.8%. The total volume of traffic carried by russian airlines decreased by 2.5%. Passenger traffic on domestic flights, which account for about 75% of traffic, decreased by 3.8%.

Leasing of new and used cars in russia fell by almost 33% in 2025.

Beer prices in the russian market rose by an average of 21% between September 2024 and December 2025.

russia’s wine market shrank by 12% in 2025. The mid- and low-priced wine segments were the most affected.

russian steelmaker “severstal” reduced its profits in 2025 amid falling domestic demand for metal products and low prices, and will not pay dividends for the fourth quarter. The company reported a 79% decline in net profit in 2025, with a loss of 17.75 billion rubles in the fourth quarter.

The volume of cargo transportation by inland water transport in russia in 2025 decreased by 14%.

In 2025, margarine in russian retail shops rose in price by an average of 15%.

Following st. petersburg and yekaterinburg, the moscow metro will begin inspecting passengers’ mobile phones.

Residents of bodaybo, irkutsk, have been living without heating and water for six days in 40-degree frost. The sewage system in the basements of houses has frozen, and the authorities promise to resolve the problem “either in the spring or only in the summer”.

More than 28,000 residents of vladivostok are without electricity.

President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda will strongly advocate for the continuation of EU sanctions against belarus. At the end of February, the EU is expected to make another decision on this issue. “I will be among those who most strongly demand the continuation of these sanctions,” said Nausėda. He pointed out  that minsk remains moscow’s ally, political prisoners continue to appear in belarus, and hybrid attacks on Lithuania continue.

Prime Minister of Lithuania  Inga Rūginienė sees no reason for a thaw in relations with belarus in the near future. “As long as belarus shows aggression, as long as it only understands the language of force, sees that only pressure can influence us... we really don’t see any possibility of even slightly thawing these relations. We do not support communication through force and we clearly state this,” Rūginienė emphasized.

belarus became the largest foreign supplier of fish and seafood to russia in 2025, despite not having access to the sea. belarusian suppliers accounted for almost 16% of russian fish imports in physical terms and about 11% in monetary terms. This is the highest figure among all exporting countries: belarus surpassed Turkey, China, and Asian countries. In absolute terms, belarus supplied about 112,000 tons of fish and seafood to russia.

Since 2026, minsk has been implementing the state program “Intellectual belarus”, which aims to improve the quality and competitiveness of belarusian education over a five-year period. Many of the program’s tasks are of an intellectual nature. For example, by 2030, the share of ninth-grade school leavers who continue their education at the vocational and secondary specialized education levels is expected to increase to 50%.

The ministry of culture of the rb has commissioned the creation of a cartoon about belarusian tractors. It will cost the state budget approximately half a million dollars. The purchase application states that the customer did not consider proposals that contained violence and cruelty, pornography, profanity, or calls for extremism.