January 29, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, France has provided Ukraine with EUR 6 billion in military aid.

By the end of the first quarter of 2025, Ukraine will receive Mirage 2000-5F combat aircrafts from France.

Ukraine's Defense Industry has received a total of more than $1.5 billion from partner countries for the production of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukraine has received a new search and rescue boat from Estonia.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Martha Kos has announced the possibility of opening the “Fundamentals” and “External Action” clusters for Ukraine within the framework of the EU accession negotiations in the first half of this year.

“We are determined”, Minister for European Union Affairs Adam Szłapka commented on his country's plans to speed up negotiations on Ukraine's EU membership.

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The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called for the reform of the UN Security Council. The document calls for a review of the UN General Assembly, which should be given broader powers in matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security, especially in cases where the permanent member of the Security Council uses its veto. The resolution also emphasizes that member states should ensure that any state that commits acts of aggression is held accountable and does not enjoy unjustified diplomatic or economic privileges. At the same time, PACE calls on those countries that have not yet joined the International Criminal Court, to join it and to ensure full cooperation with the ICC to ensure accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.

NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber James Appathurai has confirmed the information about the existence of a russian plan to assassinate Armin Papperger, the CEO of the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. According to him, this assassination attempt, which was prevented by American and German intelligence, was part of a series of russian plans to assassinate defense industry executives all over Europe.

The European Union is going to ban imports of Xbox and PlayStation game consoles to russia as part of a new package of sanctions, – said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas. “We are really looking at all types of things that help russia wage this war to include them in the sanctions list. Even video game consoles, because, obviously, they are being used to control drones,” said Kallas. According to her, the new sanctions will also include chemicals “necessary for the russian military industry” and the liquefied natural gas imports. The EU is going to introduce new restrictions on February 22.

Chancellor of the FRG Olaf Scholz has warned of the danger posed by russia's “shadow fleet”.

“These damages must be compensated, and the consequences should fall on those causing the harm. It’s no longer critical whether the damage is intentional or accidental; the losses, in any case, are enormous,” President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda said in regard with the incident with the damaged cables in the Baltic Sea.

“I would just like to send a message to everyone trying to take part in these schemes (of circumventing anti-russian sanctions) and those involved in them: we will still find out about this, and those companies will be put to shame and face heavy fines,” said Head of the State Security Department of Lithuania Darius Jauniškis.

Only 18 out of 83 russian regions have annual budgets that exceed russia's weekly spending on the war in Ukraine. Last year, there were 23 such entities. Federal budget expenditures on the war increased by 18.9%, while the budgets of most regions grew only slightly or fell. As shown by the budget parameters, in 2025, russian authorities are going to spend 13.5 trillion rubles on the war. This is almost 260 billion rubles a week, which exceeds the annual budgets of 80% of russian regions.

“russia’s economy is facing the threat of a large-scale surge in corporate bankruptcies this year,” says a report by the center for macroeconomic analysis and short-term forecasting, which advises the rf’s government. The share of russian companies with risky debt in the structure of total revenue doubled in 2024. This reflects the growing problems in the face of high inflation and slowing economic growth, which resulted in the recent increase in russia's key policy rate to a record 21%. The kremlin analysts warn that by the end of 2024, the share of companies, whose interest payments account for two-thirds of adjusted profitability, in total corporate income could reach 20%.

Export shipments of Urals and KEBCO crude oil from the Baltic port of ust-luga in January will fall to a four-year low and will be about half of the terminal's capacity. Transshipment of oil from the port of ust-luga in January will amount to 1.5 million tons, including 0.2 million tons of transitional volumes from the December program. This is the lowest figure since 2021.

China and India have suspended purchases of russian oil for delivery in March amid rising freight costs for tankers that were not covered by US sanctions. The price of russian ESPO crude oil exported from the port of kozmino in the Pacific Ocean has increased by $3-5 per barrel compared to ICE Brent.

The share of russian oil in the import structure of the Indian Oil Corporation decreased to 25% in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. The company's CFO Anuj Jain has said that the company is ready to buy raw materials from russia only if it receives “reasonable” discounts.

The Netherlands’ financial group ING Group has announced the sale of its business in russia. The press release clarifies that the deal “will effectively put an end to ING's operations in the russian market.”

In 2024, steel production in russia decreased by 6-7% compared to previous years.

Companies producing telecommunications equipment in russia, have raised prices for their products by 10-30% since January.

The launch of new hotels in moscow may decline by almost 12% in 2025. Mostly, commissioned will be the facilities that were supposed to receive their first tourists a few years ago.

russians will be fined 500 thousand rubles for rubbish and clutter in their apartments.

The federal customs service of the rf has started sending out notices to thousands of owners of cars which were delivered under parallel imports, informing them of the need to pay hundreds of thousands of rubles to the budget.

minister of internal affairs of the rf vladimir rolokoltsev has said that foreign countries are increasingly refusing to extradite criminals to russia.

russia’s prosecutor general's office has declared the Paris-based Independent Institute of Philosophy (Institut de philosophie indépendant) an undesirable organization. Prosecutors claim that the Institute “has gathered under its roof ardent russophobes, rabid critics of the policy of the russian leadership and other Western-engaged denouncers of the “russian world”.

russia’s ministry of justice has filed a lawsuit to liquidate the “Transgender” Charitable Foundation. The reason was a video of a seven-year-old seminar, which, according to russian officials, affects “religious foundations, the institution of marriage and family values” and “absolutizes personal freedom”, which “does not correspond to the national security strategy of the rf.”

In 2024, 61 searches were recorded in the temporarily occupied Crimea, 35 of which were conducted in the homes of Crimean Tatars. This is stated in the analysis of human rights violations by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center. As noted, the actions of russian authorities show the continuation of the repressive policy against the disloyal population of Crimea. Also in Crimea, 117 people are being prosecuted in the “cases of Crimean Muslims”, in which the defendants are accused of involvement in the international Islamic political organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in the rf, but allowed in most other countries.

russian officials should not travel abroad during the war with Ukraine, including on vacation. This is the point of view of 70% of russians. In their opinion, this ban should be enshrined in law. Only 10% are against. Another 19% believe that restrictions should apply only to “unfriendly” countries.

This summer, regions of the rf will send more than 4,500 orphans, children with disabilities and gifted children to holiday at the Black Sea flooded with fuel oil. More than 200 million rubles have already been spent on this. Earlier, minister of natural resources and environment of the rf aleksandr kozlov reported to putin that the restoration of anapa's beaches would begin only in the fourth quarter of 2025.

A new history textbook for forms 6-11 written by assistant to the president vladimir medinsky was presented in russia. Among other things, it contains a section on the war with Ukraine, which is a set of propaganda clichés. In particular, the textbook says that putin had long tolerated the West's “ignoring” russia's interests and NATO's eastward expansion, but eventually he “had” to unleash the war because Euromaidan and the overthrow of the kremlin-friendly president yanukovych in 2014 turned Ukraine into an “aggressive anti-russian foothold.”

russia continues to use minors in propaganda activities. In kindergartens across the country, an action was held to play sketches from everyday life of the blokade leningrad. The children were wrapped in warm clothes, lined up to get a crust of bread and filmed in videos about the horrors of war.

The russian youth football team has been banned from participating in the 2027 European Championship qualifying tournament to be held in Serbia and Albania. Thus, the russians will not take part in the football tournament of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, as its participants from the European continent are to be determined based on the results of the European Championship. Just to remind: russian athletes have been banned from the vast majority of international competitions in response to russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Demand for attributes for magical rituals in russia in 2024 increased by 34% compared to the previous year. Demand for shamanic drums almost doubled. Demand for glass spheres increased by 146%, for voodoo dolls – by 66%, and for aspen stakes – by 51%.

About 600 million packs of cigarettes enter russia annually through fictitious transit, with products of belarusian origin accounting for more than 45% of this illegal turnover. In this context, fictitious transit transportation refers to situations where goods are intended for sale in other countries, but are unloaded in the rf. The annual loss to the russian budget from such schemes amounts to 58.5 billion russian rubles.

Uzbekistan Airways has started flying to Europe bypassing the airspace of the rf and the rb – via Azerbaijan and Turkey. The airline calls it a “precautionary measure”.

In a joint statement, the European Union, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand refused to recognize the January 26 presidential “election” in the rb as free and fair. The statement condemned the “sham presidential election” in the rb and the ongoing human rights violations by the lukashenko regime.

UK Foreign Office has updated its sanctions list for belarus, adding six belarusian officials and three legal entities in response to the “presidential election” held on January 26. The sanctions include the head of the belarusian central election commission, three employees of the pre-trial detention center, and two chiefs of the state security service of the rb, gubopik. In addition, belarusian manufacturers of military equipment have also been sanctioned.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Canada has announced sanctions against belarus in response to gross and systematic human rights violations by the lukashenko regime. Canada's sanctions targeted 10 individuals and 12 legal entities in the rb, including those associated with other sanctioned belarusian individuals involved in human rights violations. lukashenko's wife, galina is among them. The sanctions list also mentions belarusian law enforcement structures, such as the kgb, omon and gubopik.

Among the 1,245 political prisoners in the rb, 36 are foreigners. In criminal cases, foreign citizens are most often tried for allegedly “agent activity” (article 358-1 of the Criminal Code) and “espionage” (article 358 of the CC). Since 2020, at least 23 foreign citizens have been convicted under these articles in belarus.

According to the investigative committee of the rb, siloviki have allegedly identified 365 participants in rallies abroad during the January 26 elections. People are threatened that their property will be seized from them and their relatives. According to the investigative committee, people abroad came to the meetings on election day to discredit belarus and disrupt the election. During the rallies, they allegedly incited social hatred and used extremist symbols.

Food prices in minsk increased by 6.3% over the year. The most noticeable increases were for coffee (+22.2%), alcohol (+10%), confectionery (+9.5%), oil and fats (+9.4%), fish and fish products (+8%). Non-food products became more expensive by 4.3%. This level was exceeded by prices for printed materials (+10.4%), medicines, including medical devices (+7%), furniture (+6.5%), carpets and carpet products (+6.3%), clothing (+5.5%), TV sets (+5.4%), and construction materials (+4.6%). Services increased by 5.1%. The leaders were health and recreation services (+19.2%), cultural services (+16.9%), household services (+11.7%), and travel services (+11%). More expensive became lawyers’ services (+8.1%), physical culture and sports (+7.9%), banking (+5.8%), passenger transportation services (+5.5%), education services (+5.2%), and housing and communal services (+4.9%).

Wages and salaries account for the bulk of the  income of the population of the rb(65.5%). Transfers (pensions, allowances, scholarships) account for 22%, income from entrepreneurial activity – 7.8%, and income from property and other income – 4.7%. This structure has remained virtually unchanged in recent years and indicates the low involvement of the business sector in economic growth. In fact, almost 90% of the income of belarusians is generated through employment and direct payments from the state budget. The state, on the one hand, declares the struggle for economic independence, but in reality it maintains the citizens’ dependence on the system by providing “stable” incomes and suppressing economic initiative.

There is a shortage of personnel in the rb. In order to retain graduates after obligatory work, it is planned to amend the education code in 2025. Among other things, it is proposed to allocate spots for applicants to educational institutions in accordance with the needs of the state, not the demand for the profession among the population. Besides, they are considering introducing liability for employers for staff turnover and retention of young professionals.

“We are not intoxicated by our success,” said sergei sirankov, a candidate from the communist party of the rb, who, according to official figures, won 3.21% of the vote in the presidential election.

At least three people will be tried in minsk under the article on “violation of the election law”.