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

“We will provide (Ukraine) with this EUR 90 billion loan,” said President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

“russia’s aggression will not prevail. We support all efforts aimed at achieving a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine,” said President of the European Council António Costa, condemning another massive russian missile attack on Ukraine’s energy system and civilian infrastructure. Costa has assured that the EU stands firmly on the side of our country and, together with other international partners, will continue to support the restoration, reconstruction, and protection of the energy system.

“The international community must remain focused on Ukraine. Now is not the time to hesitate,” said President of Moldova Maia Sandu.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Rob Jetten has said that in the coming months, the European Union will hold debates on realistic terms for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. At the same time, he stressed that partners must continue to support Ukraine despite the increased attention to the war in the Middle East.

President of Finland Alexander Stubb believes that Ukraine may benefit from the conflict in the Middle East. According to him, the opportunities for cooperation between russia and Iran have been significantly reduced today. Besides, in his opinion, the shift in global attention to Iran could create opportunities for diplomacy regarding Ukraine, giving “space for negotiators to come up with something without being in the spotlight.”

As part of the initiative, which is being implemented with the support of the US government through the AGRO program, eight deliveries of various equipment to water management organizations in five regions of Ukraine are planned.

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The USA does not intend to give up its sanctions policy against russia, said Energy Minister Chris Wright.

“It is clear that russia is not winning. Its army is bogged down and its economy is in sharp decline. Demographically, russia is collapsing from within,”– at the same time  EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas believes that “there are no signs that russia wants to end the war (against Ukraine)”.

The Netherlands is developing measures to stop oil tankers of the russian “shadow fleet”.

NATO has launched a “Cold Response” exercise in the Arctic involving about 25,000 troops from 14 countries. The exercise focuses on defending the Alliance in the region where Norway and Finland border on russia.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has recorded a 9.2% increase in government supplies of major weapons worldwide in 2021–2025 compared to the previous five-year period (2016–2020). russia was the only major arms supplier to see a decline in supplying foreign countries over the past five years. According to SIPRI estimates, russian arms exports fell by 64% between 2021 and 2015. russia has moved from second to third place in the list of the largest arms exporters. It currently accounts for 6.8% of global exports of major weapons.

Delegations from 13 countries refused to participate in the opening ceremony of the Paralympics in Italy due to the admission of russian and belarusian teams with flags. This is one of the largest boycotts in the modern history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Only the 1980 Games in moscow were boycotted by more countries.

russian authorities are trying to hide the real size of the federal budget deficit, which spends every third ruble on the war, and last year faced a significant shortfall in oil and gas revenues. This conclusion was reached by the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) based on an analysis of budget data for the past year. According to BND estimates, the real “hole” in the treasury reached 8.01 trillion rubles instead of the 5.65 trillion reported by the ministry of finance of the rf. Compared to 2024, the rf’s budget deficit could thus increase by 130%, and the ministry of finance’s initial plan (1.2 trillion rubles) could be exceeded almost seven times.

russia is facing a fruit and vegetable crisis due to the conflict in the Middle East. Prices for crops will soar by 80%, while some items will disappear from shop shelves. Supplies of sour cherries, cherries, dates, plums, peaches, pistachios, celery, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, and zucchini will be affected. Iran’s government has imposed a ban on food exports. This affects more than 60% of all the country’s supplies to russia.

In February, oil and gas companies transferred 423.3 billion rubles to russia’s federal budget – by 44% less than a year earlier. This is the second month in a row that raw material revenues have halved, while the cumulative total for the two months is by 47% lower than last year – 826 billion rubles compared to 1.56 trillion.

In January 2026, there were approximately 8,100 children’s clothing shops operating in russian cities with a population of over one million. This is by 16% fewer than a year earlier and almost by 25% fewer than in 2021. Sales of children’s goods fell by 8% in 2025, and sales of children’s clothing and footwear are falling at double-digit rates. The reasons for this are a sharp decline in the birth rate and fierce competition between the offline segment and online networks.

Two planes of russian airlines broke down in the air within a day.

In russia in 2026, the highest price increases are expected for heavy and bulky auto parts. Large body parts, exhaust systems, and some suspension parts will become the most expensive. Such parts take up a lot of space during transportation and storage, so the increase in logistics costs is most quickly reflected in their cost. On average, the cost of auto parts may increase by 10-15% in the mass market segment. In certain categories and for premium brands, the increase may reach 20-25%.

In russia, demand for MP3 players has grown amid restrictions on streaming platforms and disruptions in mobile internet service. At this, users are willing to put up with inconveniences, such as manually downloading files to their devices via a computer.

russia is once again creating sobering-up stations. This system was abolished in 2011, but now the possibility of opening sobering-up stations has been returned to the law, as hospitals and clinics cannot cope with violent patients who are addicted to alcohol. According to official statistics, the number of such people in russia has begun to grow again since 2022. Some of the people who appear in the news and on social media in connection with drunken brawls report that they are “veterans of the special military operation”. Since 2022, statistics on serious crimes has also been rising in russia. One of the reasons is the return of participants in russia’s war against Ukraine.

To date, at least 19 coal enterprises in kuzbass have suspended operations. In January, coal production, processing, and exports fell by 7 to 15.5% compared to the same period last year. In 2025, the local budget lost 36 billion rubles in taxes.

In transbaikalia, salaries of school and technical college employees have been delayed since the beginning of the year without explanation.

According to SIPRI, belarus accounted for 0.9% of global arms imports in 2021–2025. Almost all of belarus’ arms came from russia, with Iran accounting for 0.1% of imports to belarus and China – for less than 0.05%. It should be noted that in recent years, belarus has received russian Su-30SM2 fighter jets, Mi-35M helicopters, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft missile systems, and more.

There are 164 female political prisoners behind bars in belarus, and at least 1,917 women have been convicted since 2020.

Electronics and auto parts in belarus may rise in price by 30%.

New car sales in belarus have decreased by 11%.