July 21, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

“We want a peace that will protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The European Union is not looking for war, we are not a party to this war. We are looking for peace, but this peace must be based on the survival of Ukraine, on (preserving) its sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is what Ukrainians are now defending”, emphasized EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell.

Chancellor of the FRG Olaf Scholz has said that Germany, given its own history, should stand firmly on the side of democracy and on the side of Ukraine, which is fighting for it today.

The United Kingdom will resume manufacturing artillery barrels to support artillery systems in Ukraine.

According to Deputy Minister of Defence of Poland Paweł Zalewski, volunteers who join the Ukrainian Legion will be “drafted into the Ukrainian Army according to Ukrainian rules in Ukrainian consular offices” and “in Poland will undergo basic training, which will be provided by the Polish army”.

Compared to last year, Ukraine has increased its grain exports, with an average of seven million tons exported each month.

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US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said that the United States is preparing new sanctions against Chinese companies that support russia's war in Ukraine, and that banks may be targeted.

US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt has pointed out that russia is trying to use anti-Semitism as a propaganda weapon against Ukraine.

The US Department of the Treasury has announced sanctions against two leaders (yulia pankratova and denis dehtiarenko) of the cybercrime group cyber army of russia reborn (carr), which conducts operations against critical infrastructure facilities around the world.

The Spanish Civil Guard has detained three pro-russian hackers from the noname057(16) group who had been attacking Ukraine's allies.

According to a social survey, the majority of Georgian citizens (69%) consider russia to be their country's main enemy, and this figure is growing compared to previous years.

Against the background of the US sanctions against the moscow exchange and its subsidiaries, the national settlement depository and the national clearing center, as well as the requirement of the central securities depository of Kazakhstan to have completed all transactions with russian securities by August 10, the Kazakh brokerage NGDEM Global is buying up russian stocks and bonds at half the price of their value at the moscow exchange. Holders are actively getting rid of russian securities due to the uncertainty of the future situation on the stock market.

In an effort to curb consumer sentiment and prevent excessive spending, the russian government increased duties on a number of imported goods from countries that are “unfriendly” to the rf, including confectionery and cocoa products, sweets, biscuits, beer, wine, lead batteries and accumulators, rifles and shotguns, to 35%. The duty on cocoa-containing products increased to EUR 0.6 per kg, chocolate sweets – to EUR 0.73 per kg, biscuits with cocoa or chocolate and wafers – to EUR 0.35 per kg. Perfumes, cosmetics, and detergents were also subject to a 35% duty increase, while beer was subject to a EUR 0.1 per liter duty and wine to a 20% duty, but not less than $1.5 per liter.

The net profit of the russian banking sector has been declining for the second month in a row: in June it fell by 12% to RUB 225 billion, and in May – by 16% to RUB 255 billion. In the second half of the year, banks' revenues will decline as lending to households slows.

In the first half of the year, imports of feed for livestock in the rf decreased by 40%, to 28.4 thousand tons.

The russian “international aviation and space salon” (maks) has been canceled again and postponed to 2025. The last maks was held in 2021, and it has been postponed every year since the rf's aggression against Ukraine.

Starting August 1, in the rb, employers will be able to hire foreigners for a number of specialties, even if they do not have a permanent residence permit in the country. The ministry of labor and social protection has included 53 professions in the list of working professions and positions of employees, ranging from concrete workers, cattle breeders and mechanics to specialist doctors and engineers. As of July 20, 164,058 offers from employers have been posted in the republic-wide job bank.

self-proclaimed president of the rb lukashenko has suggested sending prisoners to help with hurricane relief efforts. “We have more than 20,000 convicts and so-called political prisoners. There, to the clearing...”, - lukashenko said.

russian “aeroflot” has unexpectedly begun to use its long-haul Airbus and Boeing aircrafts with a seating capacity of 300 to 400 passengers on flights from moscow to minsk. According to experts, the main reason for this replacement is an acute shortage of medium-haul aircrafts (140-180 passengers) and an overabundance of long-haul aircrafts. The problem is resolved by combining two flights into one.

The kgb of the rb has decided to recognize the Telegram chat room “Medics. Grodno” as an extremist formation.