December 23, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

“The message is very clear: we will continue to stand with Ukraine and support it unconditionally. Ukraine should determine the timing of any negotiations with russia, but it should do so from a position of strength, not weakness”, said Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Poland has handed over two Mi-8 helicopters and one Bell 412-HP to Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs to train future pilots.

The European Union is expected to adopt the next package of sanctions against russia on February 24, the third anniversary of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has said that the security threat to Europe comes from russia, in particular through migration.

According to Minister of National Defense of Poland Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, his country is ready to shoot down russian missiles if they pose a direct threat to Poland or NATO countries.

The novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in rostov region, the largest refinery in southern russia and the only one with a capacity of 5.6 million tons of oil per year, has shut down both primary oil processing units.

As a result of downtime caused by drone attacks and difficulties with repairs due to Western sanctions on the supply of technology to the rf, russia’s refineries lost 41.1 million tons, or 13% of their capacity, between January and December. Downtime exceeded last year's by 14%, or 5.2 million tons. Average daily deliveries abroad this year amounted to only 1.9-2.6 million tons, reaching their maximum in 2024 only at the very beginning of the year and in December. According to official statistics, in January-May, russian refineries reduced petrol production by almost 20% and diesel fuel – by 11%.

The ministry of labour of the rf has announced that permitted share of foreigners working for russian companies will decrease in 21 regions in 2025. Companies in the krasnodar territory that operate in agriculture and forestry, transportation and storage, and the hotel and restaurant businesses will be able to hire no more than 15% of foreigners. In land passenger transport and road freight transport, the employment of foreigners will be completely banned. In the krasnoyarsk territory, the hiring of migrant workers will be limited to vegetable cultivation, and in orenburg region – to retail trade in alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, and passenger taxi services. Throughout the country, a ban on the employment of migrant workers in pharmacies, non-stationary retail facilities, markets and outside of shops, tents and markets remains in place until 2025.

In russia, the issue of staffing of trucking companies has become acute due to the recruitment of workers for the war against Ukraine. In rostov-on-don, 51% of drivers are needed, and in chita, only half of the required number of trolleybuses are operating. In irkutsk, there are only 25 trolleybuses running, whereas five years ago there were 56. In novokuznetsk, kemerovo region, due to a shortage of workers, they called on women to join a “women's battalion” to drive trolleybus. Since December 2023, 25% of the city's passenger transport means have not been on the route due to a shortage of drivers and the equipment being worn out.

Retailer x5 group, which owns the “pyaterochka”, “perekrestok” and “chizhik” chains, has stopped selling its “for the motherland” brand of sprats produced at the plant of the same name due to the presence of botulinum toxin in the fish. Earlier, due to a shortage of labor, the fish factory located in kaliningrad region began hiring citizens of India. member of the regional legislative assembly lutarevich has said that the choice fell on the people from that particular country, because “there are a lot of them, and they are not like the rest, who have been in russia for a long time, and will definitely not get citizenship”. This year, russia has already experienced the worst outbreak of botulism since 1999. The number of simultaneously sick people amounted to 417, two of whom died.

July-September saw a record quarterly amount of funds stolen by fraudsters from russians' bank accounts. In the third quarter, the volume of fraudulent transactions on citizens' accounts reached RUB 9.2 billion (approximately USD 91.5 million), the highest since 2020. Compared to the third quarter of 2023, the volume of these fraudulent transactions jumped 2.6 times, and almost doubled compared to the levels of the second quarter of this year.

In 2024, the 31st year of the belarusian totalitarian regime, potato prices in the country have risen by 62%. In order to prevent riots caused by the doubling of potato prices, the government introduced a three-month licensing period for potato exports. The one-time licenses will be issued by the ministry of antimonopoly regulation and trade so that the export of potatoes can be coordinated with regional executive committees.

Due to the shortage of personnel in the agricultural sector, about 28,500 labor migrants came to work in the rb in 2024, twice as many as in 2023. Most of them were citizens of Turkmenistan – about 12.5 thousand. In total, there are more than 60 thousand foreigners from more than 130 countries in the rb, with the most common areas of activity being industry, construction, transportation, and trade.

Due to the rapid rise in the price of goods, the authorities had to extend social discounts in large retail chains for vulnerable categories of the population for the third time - until the end of March 2025. The population has repeatedly criticized the range and quality of goods at this discount.