February 13, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

“Today, I have announced the allocation of additional £150 million for new firing power – tanks, artillery, air–to–air missiles, as well as new contracts for repairing the most important equipment in Ukraine,” said Secretary of State for Defense of the United Kingdom John Healey. At the same time, Healey emphasized that the goal of the Ramstein format is to ensure peace in Ukraine through force.

Last year, NATO member states provided Ukraine with EUR 50 billion in security assistance.

The European Investment Bank will send EUR 2 billion to Ukraine's restoration projects within Pillar 2 Ukraine Facility.

The Federal Council of Switzerland has approved allocation of 1.5 million Swiss francs (EUR 1.58 million) to the aid program (EUR 1.58 million) – the money will go to Ukraine’s restoration and development in 2025–2028.

“The President (of the European Commission) von Der Lien has emphasized the EU’s devotion to just and lasting peace for Ukraine. She stressed the need for further unity in providing adamant support to Ukraine,” – the European Commission said in a statement on the results of Ursula von Der Lyen’s meeting with Vice–President of the USA JD Vance.

“We are in a critical moment because the war has been on for three years, our message is clear: bloodshed should stop, and this war must end,” said US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He also stressed that at the moment the United States does not have plans to reduce military presence in Europe against the background of russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

“I expect that President Trump, who declares his desire to put an end to the war in Ukraine, will offer and embody decisions that will be not only political and economic victory, but will make putin sit at the negotiating table,” said President of Poland Andrzej Duda.

The United Nations International Development Organization (UNIDO) plans to open an office in Ukraine, which will ensure effective management of post–war recovery projects.

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NATO Secretary–General Mark Rutte has said that if putin attacks the North Atlantic Alliance now, he will be inevitably defeated, but in a few years russia may be a greater threat. Secretary–General has stressed that member countries of the Alliance should be serious about intelligence agencies’ warnings about russia’s possible attack on NATO states. Given the current rate of work of its military industry, the rf can significantly increase its strength within 4-5 years.

The Foreign Intelligence of Estonia has said that China helps russia in the production of military UAVs, having become the main center for the supply of critical Western components for the armed forces of the rf, circumventing sanctions. According to Estonian intelligence officers, about 80 % of the components that get to the rf are coming from China.

“Estonia’s external intelligence has stated that China helps russia in the production of military drones, becoming the main center for the supply of critically important Western components for the Russian Federation bypassing sanctions. According to Estonian scouts, about 80 % of such components that get to the Russian Federation are now coming from China.

In Latvia, the “New Unity” parliamentary faction has submitted amendments to the Law on Tourism, which provide for a ban on tourist trips to the rf and the rb. According to the amendments provided, tourist services suppliers will be prohibited from providing them in russia and belarus. The aim of the amendments is to reduce the risks of possible violations of Latvian citizens’ human rights as well as to prevent those violations. The draft law will apply to all registered tour operators in Latvia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel has published a reminder to the citizens of Israel, who also have russian citizenship, that, in case of a trip to russia, local authorities will consider them exclusively as russian citizens. The appeal separately emphasizes that in the rf, people with dual citizenship are subject to russian laws regarding the conscription to the army, as well as requirements for entry and departure of the country.

The Ministry of Defense of Syria banned the russian military from entering the fleet’s base in Tartus. A column of 30 trucks with rocket weapons, which advanced from the Khmeimim Air Base, returned to Khmeimim after many hours and attempts to obtain permission for entry.

In 2024, in the rf, more than 3,000 people were included into the list of terroristas and extremists, more than 2,000 of them were involved in terrorism, and more than 900 – to extremism. According to the law, persons who are included in the list are banned from interacting with the media, publishing information on the Internet, organizing public events, participating in elections, using financial services, etc.

russian authorities may begin to demand from other states to bring to criminal liability russians who have left the country for abroad. The corresponding draft law has been submitted to the state duma of the rf. The proposed mechanism is unlikely to work, as many countries treat the russian law enforcement and judicial system with deep distrust.

russian siloviki have opened a criminal case against the journalist of the Spanish edition El Mundo Albert Rohas, who filmed reports in kursk region.

In russia, the use of foreign words in advertising, media, trade, services and construction will be restricted. Among other things, this will concern signboards, labels, names of residential complexes and settlements. And shops will no longer be able to decorate the showcases using the signs Coffee, Sale, Open and more. The state duma almost unanimously approved the draft law in the first reading.

The government of the rf has begun to prepare for the crisis in the economy. In December 2024, the special commission on economy’s stability which was established in 2020 during the pandemic and economic crisis, resumed its work. The commission should find out problematic industries and develop assistance measures for them.

Oil sanctions hit on various russian projects, and especially on far eastern ones. Raw materials are not exported from the sakhalin shelf, but are stored in tankers, which are used as floating storage. The ships that have been standing in the drift off the shores of sakhalin for at least a week, have on board about 6.3 million barrels of oil. This corresponds to about two days of aggregate sea exports from all ports of russia in normal times (more than 3 million barrels per day).

In January 2025, russia reduced the export of petroleum products through its seaports by 3.3 % to the same period last year – to 10.431 million tons.

The money from the russian national wealth fund, which has actively been spent on patching budget “holes” after the start of the full-scale war, will only be enough for six months of funding for government expenditures in case of a serious fall in oil prices, – as estimated by former minister of finance Mikhail Zadornov. The amount of liquid funds of the Fund – currency and gold in the central bank’s accounts – as of February 1, decreased to 3.8 trillion rubles, or less than 2 % of GDP. As a result, the government of the rf has almost no reserves for a rainy day, while expenditures on the army and war continue to increase: in 2025 they will be 13.2 trillion rubles – by 22 % more than a year earlier, twice as high as the figure for 2023, and almost four times more than in the pre–war year 2021 (3.5 trillion rubles).

Due to problems with payments, russia is trying to pay with gas for the construction of NPP in Turkey.

According to the results of 2024, tickets to festivals in russia increased in price more than 1.5 times – by 75 %, the average cost of the ticket exceeded 2 thousand rubles.

In 2025, vehicle inspection is expected to cost russians by about 10 % more than the current price.

In 2024, used cars in russia were becoming more expensive faster than new ones. The weighted average price of a car with mileage in the rf rose by 13 % over the year, while for new cars this figure increased by only 6 %. At the secondary car market, the weighted average cost of a car reached 1.18 million rubles. This indicator is calculated taking into account the market volume by model and year of issue (excluding modifications). It has also been found out that the average price of a car with mileage has increased over the last five years.

The ministry of transport of the rf has recognized the problem with wrong fines received by cargo carriers in the south of russia due to the failure of the “platon” system. Malfunctions arise from the work of COMJAM systems that interfere with the definition of satellite coordinates. The problem has become so big, that drivers had to film a video address to putin. At the same time, the state duma has adopted in the first reading a draft law, which provides for an increase in the fine from 5 thousand to 20 thousand rubles for not paying for carrying heavy loads via paid motorways under the “platon” system.

deputy head of the state duma’s defence comitette zhuravlev has stated that the entire Navy of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania could be drowned with the help of two “large–caliber machine guns” installed on a russian tanker.

“neo–pagan” sentiments begin to appear among the russians who are fighting against Ukraine, – said patriarch of moscow kirill.

At the diocesan meeting of the metropolitanate of moscow, a clergyman from mozhaisk aleksei shlyapin stated that he did not agree with the patriotic tendency in church relations. “The duty of the clergyman is to lead people into the kingdom of heaven, not to do patriotism,” he said. head of the roc gundyaev replied: “I hear this for the first time. And you, father, aren’t you, by any chance, from Western Ukraine? Go sit down and think seriously about everything you have slapped here.” The hall supported the patriarch's words with laughter and applause.

Representatives of the countries of Africa and the Middle East will perform at the “intervision”, which the russian authorities see as an alternative to Eurovision.

New emissions of fuel oil, as a result of the accident of two russian tankers, have been recorded in 14 places in the Black Sea.

In saratov region, patients with sugar diabetes, oncology and cardiovascular diseases are at risk of staying without preferential medicines for the next six months. To purchase medicines for them, hospitals need 3 billion rubles, – said head of the regional ministry of healthcare vladimir dudakov.

Residents of rostov-on-don for the third time since the beginning of winter have their heating turned off due to the accident.

On February 11, one of the kindergartens of chelyabinsk conducted a “lesson of courage”, on which children instead of toys were given deception devices of grenade launchers, guns, machine guns, guns and grenades used in the war against Ukraine.

Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea presented the leader of national minorities of the northern sakhalin russian vladimir sangi a globу with Crimea in Ukraine. The South Korean Ministry specified that the globe was made “on the basis of cartographic practice and standards of international organizations and large publishers of maps”. The leader of national minorities of the north sakhalin called the gift impolite and pointed to the opportunity to consider it as a call for separatism.

In 2023–2024, there were 759 attacks on or threats to professional and civilian workers of the media, as well as editors offices of traditional and online media in belarus.

In 2024, the prosecutor's offices of minsk region sent 450 applications to the courts for recognition of information products as “extremist materials”. Since 2021, there were more than 1 000 such applications. Last year, as “extremist” were recognized 279 accounts on Tiktok, 109 Instagram accounts, 33 telegram channels and chats, 11 YouTub channels, five accounts in “vk”, one account in Facebook and four pages in “odnoklassniki”.

siloviki of the rb again resorted to provocation against their own citizens. They write to belarusians on behalf of the evacuation service of the BYSOL Solidarity Fund to obtain information about cooperation with the closed anti–war information project “Belaruski Gayun”'.

One in five belarussians does not have savings at all.

In the school textbooks, published in the rb after 2020, belarusians are attributed to such a feature as devotion to the authorities, allegedly characteristic historically. The Union of 1596, the Kastus Kalinowski’s uprising of 1863-1864, are also negatively evaluated. The authors of the textbooks made Poland the main geopolitical enemy of modern belarus and do not mention the protest events of 2020.