January 3, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against  russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

In December 2024, Ukraine attracted $9.2 billion in international financial assistance. For the whole of 2024, our country  received more than $41.7 billion in support from partners, of which $12.6 billion were provided as grants. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, international partners have provided Ukraine with budgetary support in the amount of 115.2 billion US dollars.

According to a poll, 56% of German residents support the idea of deploying an international peacekeeping force in Ukraine in case of a ceasefire.

Last year, exports of Ukrainian goods to Africa increased by 15%, totaling more than $41 billion.

Ukraine will set up the humanitarian program “Grain from Ukraine” to cooperate with the Syrian administration and all partners who are ready to support.

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Richard Kemp, a military expert and former Commander of the UK Forces in Afghanistan, believes that the war in Ukraine has become a shameful failure for putin. Having failed to achieve the goal of conquering his much smaller neighbor, he instead has caused enormous suffering in his own country and destroyed its economy.

From January 1, 2025, sheremetyevo international airport has increased its basic charges for servicing russian airlines by 17% . The basic take-off and landing fee has  increased from RUB 656.8 to RUB 768.5 per ton of maximum take-off weight (mtw), and aviation security (without inspection and security checks) from RUB 32.4 to RUB 37.9. The fee for the provision of an airport terminal on domestic routes (terminals B and D) has increased from RUB 214.4 to RUB 250.9 per passenger, and on international routes – from  RUB 653.2 to RUB 764.3 in terminals C and D, and from RUB 165.5 to RUB 193.7  –   in terminals E and F. For foreign airlines, sheremetyevo is also raising its service fees starting in January by an average of 3%. The takeoff and landing fee for them will increase from $16.52 to $16.96 per ton of mtw, and aviation security (without inspection and access control) from $1.35 to $1.39. The fee for the provision of terminals B, C, D will increase from $19.16 to $19.73 per passenger, of terminals E, F – from  $11.25 to $11.59.

Excise taxes on petroleum products have been raised in the rf since January 1, 2025. The excise tax on AI-95 petrol in 2025 has increased from 15,650 rubles to 17,088 rubles per ton, in 2026 it will increase from 16,276 rubles to 17,772 rubles per ton, and in 2027 the excise tax will be set at 1,848 rubles. The excise tax on diesel fuel has increased in 2025 from RUB 10,842 to RUB 12,120, in 2026 it will increase from RUB 11,276 to RUB 12,605, and in 2027 the excise tax will be set at RUB 13,109 per ton.

In 2025, parental fees for children attending preschools in orenburg  has increased by 16.6%. The cost of maintaining children will be 2,654 rubles per month for kindergartens located in the city, and 1,990 rubles per month – for  kindergartens in rural settlements that are part of the regional center.

There are currently about 12 million legal labor migrants in russia, with taking into account  illegal migrants,  the number may be twice as high. By assigning a specific migrant to a specific employer, the work permit to be introduced in 2025 will be issued for the employer, not the profession. Currently, visa-free migrants are issued a patent for 12 months, and working without it can result in a fine of 5,000 rubles for the employee and possible deportation, while the company will pay 800,000 rubles. As migration legislation is tightened, fines will also increase, which will affect the price of the final product or service.

head of the state duma volodin has instructed the relevant committee on culture to prepare as a matter of priority a draft law on the protection of the russian language and restriction of the use of foreign words: “We need to preserve and develop the russian language as an integral part of culture and spiritual heritage”.

Minister of Internal Affairs of Lithuania Vladislav Kondratovich sees no need to ease the existing restrictions on the rb’s citizens coming to the country.

The council of ministers of the rb has added new items to the list of reasons why children in the rb may be recognized as being in a socially dangerous situation(SDS). Among them: drunk driving, growing plants containing narcotic substances, disorderly conduct, prostitution, and the most significant – Article 19.11: distribution, production, storage, transportation of information products containing calls for extremist activities or promoting such activities. A child may also be officially in the SDS  if parents fail to register the child at the place of residence within a month after birth or move; fail to control the child's behavior and whereabouts, resulting in the child running away from home, “wandering”, or attempting suicide; if the child finds himself/herself in dangerous situations; if both parents or the single parent do not work for more than three months, misuse social benefits, and do not provide the child with basic needs such as food, clothing, a place to rest and play.

Due to the low growth rate of the confectionery industry in the rb, demand for russian and Chinese products has increased, said deputy head of lukashenko’s administration yegorov.

“When there is a war going on, when we receive huge subsidies from russia every year... We live normally. And if there were no such subsidies, we would have low prices for gas and oil products... We are actually on the rf’s  payroll. Is this good or bad? I think it's bad. But lukashenko thinks it's good”, said former head of the national bank of the rb stanislav bogdankevich.

In August 2020, former siloviki from Zhodino – Dmytriy  Vdovin, Andrei Doroshko, Vyacheslav Ilyich, Igor Kislyak, and Vitaliy Paprotskiy, recorded an appeal asking their former colleagues not to be punishers. On January 13, 2025, the minsk regional court will try them under two articles – “harming the national security of the rb” and “inciting hatred”. They face 5 to 12 years in prison.