February 19, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Germany has handed over another tranche of military aid to Ukraine, including 56 MRAP armored vehicles, ammunition for Leopard 1 tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 282,000 rounds of ammunition for self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, ammunition for Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, missiles for IRIS-T SLM and IRIS-T SLS air defense systems, four Zuzana 2 howitzers, two and a half thousand 155 mm artillery shells and two thousand 122 mm artillery shells, 300 HF-1 strike drones, 51 Vector reconnaissance UAVs, 245 RQ-35 Heidrun reconnaissance UAVs, 29 Songbird reconnaissance UAVs, 14 Hornet XR reconnaissance UAVs, demining equipment, more than 600 laser rangefinders, and special vehicles for border guards.

In the first half of 2025, 12,000 Latvian-made drones will be delivered to Ukraine.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen has said that her country is considering joining a contingent of allies that could operate in Ukraine as part of security guarantees.

Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Lithuania Asta Skaisgirytė has pointed out that her country could send military instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian forces.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys believes that after the war in Ukraine is over, European troops may need to be sent to our country to prevent russia’s new aggression. “We know what numbers are needed to deter russia – hundreds of thousands of soldiers,” said Budrys.

At a meeting with US Special Envoy for Ukraine and russia Keith Kellogg, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen emphasized the EU's important role in ensuring Ukraine's financial stability and defense. Von der Leyen reaffirmed the EU's commitment to a just and lasting peace and emphasized that any solution must respect Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, backed by credible security guarantees.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that Europe is ready to take a leading role in providing security guarantees to Ukraine.

President of France Emmanuel Macron is convinced that in order to achieve a stable peace, it is necessary not only to cease fire, but also to create reliable mechanisms to guarantee security for Ukraine.

The NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Center (JATEC), a joint project of Ukraine and NATO, has been opened in Poland.

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European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis has emphasized that the EU does not plan to lift sanctions against russia, even if the United States takes this step.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen has called for preventing russia from extending its aggression beyond Ukraine. “russia is a real threat to the security of the whole of Europe, and therefore to our freedom, so the most important message tonight is the need for rearmament,” she said.

71 % of Latvians consider russia to be the main threat to European security, as shown by the “Security Radar 2025” study conducted by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

In Latvia, the National Council of Electronic Media has closed access to several kremlin propaganda websites. According to the regulator, the content of those portals contradicts the interests of the security of the Latvian information space and national security. The information published there corresponds to the messages of russian aggressive military propaganda, supports and justifies russia's invasion of Ukraine and russia’s occupation of a number of Ukrainian regions.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova has said that the presence of russian troops in Transnistria is illegal and Chisinau expects unconditional withdrawal of this contingent.

Sales of alcoholic beverages in russia increased by 17.1 % in January.

The average period of car ownership in russia has increased to 7.3 years due to high interest rates and the reluctance of car owners to abandon familiar brands that have left the market. In 2024, only 48.3 % of new cars and 9.8 % of used cars were purchased on credit. Car loan terms reached a record 70 months for new cars and 77 months for used ones. Rising prices and frequent restyling of Chinese models (every two to three years) have not yet encouraged russians to change cars more often: experts predict a 10 % decline in new car sales.

In January 2025, the number of credit cards issued fell to 1.15 million, the lowest since April 2022. The market was affected by increased regulatory pressure from the central bank. However, the downward trend in credit card issuance will continue in the near future.

In 2024, public and private clinics sharply increased the cost of an initial consultation with a specialist doctor. Over the year, this service went up by 17 % on average, which is almost twice as high as the overall inflation rate (9.52 %). The average cost of the first visit to a doctor in the country increased from RUB 1,111 to RUB 1,298 per year. However, in the Republic of Altai, the price increased by 56 %, in Ulyanovsk region – by 52 %, and in Chelyabinsk region –by 50 %. In those regions, the service went up from 750 rubles to almost 1,150 rubles a visit. Prices for therapeutic massage (by 13 %, to RUB 563 a session) and gastroscopy (by 11 %, to RUB 2,432 a procedure) also rose sharply. In private clinics, prices increased by 10-15 % over the past year, depending on the format of the clinic, region and type of service. Dentistry continues to be one of the most popular segments of paid healthcare. In 2024, dental treatment became more expensive by 10 % year-on-year, while a consultative examination by a dentist without treatment went up by 17 % across the country, to RUB 516. The increase in the cost of a doctor's appointment is due to the growing demand for narrow specialists in the face of a shortage of them in primary healthcare, such as polyclinics and paramedic and obstetric stations.

The “rosseti” group’s losses from the actions of illegal crypto miners exceeded 1.3 billion rubles in 2024.

russia needs to replace more than 10 million retiring employees by 2030. The shortage of personnel by 2030 is estimated at 3.1 million people compared to 2022.

The development of the health resort industry in russia is hampered by high taxes, in particular on property, the high cost of constracting new facilities and the shortage of qualified medical personnel.

russian kindergartens have begun to literally implement the “year of the defender of the fatherland” announced by president putin. Preschoolers are learning how to handle weapons and participate in sports and patriotic games led by participants in the invasion of Ukraine, who do not hesitate to describe real-life combat and living conditions at the front to the kids.

The state duma has recommended that regions involve participants of the war in Ukraine in educational work in schools and children's camps.

In russia, a new practice is gaining popularity – the so-called “chickenpox parties” where parents deliberately expose their children to chickenpox. The main reason for this phenomenon is the interruption in the supply of chickenpox vaccines.

Head of the Ivanovo region healthcare department anton arsenyev has commented on residents' complaints about the lack of subsidized medicines, including insulin, metformin and anti-tumor medications, which are vital for patients with cancer and diabetes. The official blamed the patients themselves for the shortage.

The Yakutsk city duma has supported a draft law on cancelling direct mayoral elections. The head of Yakutia explained the need to give them up by the “war with the West”.

A court in ulyanovsk has fined the owner of the “Pid’e! bar” under a protocol on “LGBT propaganda” because of the colors used in the bar's interior: according to the court, white symbolizes freedom of gender choice, while black symbolizes gender fluidity. Another reason for the report was a neon sign, a pillow, sweets, cocktail straws, and waiters’ headbands, all of which were shaped like male organs.

In st. petersburg, a teacher has been fined for bringing a paper heart to the monument to Taras Shevchenko.

In Crimea, the russian occupying authorities are going to confiscate more than 170 thousand hectares of agricultural land from owners based on the results of an inventory. This was stated by the chair of the committee on agrarian policy and rural development of the russian “parliament” of Crimea, vasily rogatin. The land that has not been cultivated for more than three years will be confiscated.

Due to the lack of personnel in housing and communal services, the occupied Siverskodonetsk is forced to use the services of emergency crews from Perm, which is located almost two thousand kilometers from Luhansk region.

Shortage of doctors, rudeness and lack of proper diagnostics – residents of occupied Luhansk complain about the healthcare sector that was destroyed by russia.

belarus’ participation in the war in Ukraine unleashed by russia, in the foreseeable future is unlikely, as it could significantly threaten the country's internal political stability and the position of lukashenko – says the Latvian Bureau for the Protection of the Constitution.

The High Court of Justice of the United Kingdom has issued a decision in the case of DANA Astra. The Court considered the claim of the belarusian construction company, which tried to challenge the sanctions imposed against it, and recognized them as legal, as DANA is reasonably believed to be involved in supporting lukashenko's regime.

A group of Nobel Prize winners has appealed to US President Donald Trump and other world leaders to immediately ensure the release of all political prisoners in the rb.

A new workbook has been prepared for ideologues in belarus on how to tell the population about the successes of the latest five-year period, which ended in 2024. It talks about income growth, social guarantees for families with children, and economic success. But at the same time, the propagandists kept silent about important but unpleasant moments. For example, they did not mention that over the past five years, officials have actively cut the social package that was previously guaranteed to the population, and have caused failures in pensions, the labor market, and so on.

A year ago, almost 300 people were detained across belarus almost simultaneously for providing food and financial aid to relatives of political prisoners. Most of the detained during those events were elderly women, many of them of retirement age. 39 of them were convicted on criminal charges.

militia will conduct raids in minsk to search for “parasites”. Special attention will also be paid to belarusians employed abroad. It is planned to strengthen control over “parasites” and workers who receive salaries “in envelopes,” expand employment programs, and send those who are unemployed, alcohol or drug addicts to medical-labour centres.