July 25, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The European Union ambassadors have approved the allocation of macro-financial aid to Ukraine in the amount of about EUR 4.2 billion under the Ukraine Facility program. The money will support Ukraine's financial stability and the functioning of its public administration.

“The agreement is undoubtedly symbolic, but the most important thing is real help and support... The security cooperation agreement for the Czech Republic confirms the assistance to Ukraine that has been ongoing since the first day of the war”, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said about the security agreement with Ukraine.

German concern Rheinmetall has announced that it has received an order from Ukraine for the complete technical equipment of an ammunition plant.

General Carsten Breuer, Inspector General of the Bundeswehr (Germany), does not expect any significant changes on the frontline in Ukraine in the near future.

“It is important that China learns directly from Ukraine about the damage the latter has suffered because of the rf's war of aggression”, Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller commented on the Foreign Minister of Ukraine’s visit to China.

The Ministry of Healthcare of Latvia has prepared another batch of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which includes antibiotics, syringes, needles, infusion systems, manipulation tourniquets, adhesive plasters, pressure bandages to stop life-threatening bleeding, and dressings for large wounds.

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The US Department of the Treasury has ordered financial institutions in the country that own russian state assets to report about this by August 2.

Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz has said that the FRG needs rearming the Bundeswehr and American missiles to prevent anyone from attacking his country and its allies.

Latvia has filed an appeal against the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which lifted sanctions against russian billionaires petr aven and mikhail fridman.

In Paris, law enforcement agencies have detained a russian on suspicion of preparing for “destabilizing” events during the Olympic Games.

Lithuania has deprived of citizenship six people who concealed their russian citizenship.

Spain has banned the russian frigate “shtandart”, which was heading to Vigo to participate in the historic Iacobus Maris Route festival, from entering any port of the country.

In June, Indian refineries imported 3.7% less oil from the rf than in May. At the same time, the volume of oil imports from Saudi Arabia and the United States increased.

At the request of the European Central Bank, the Italian bank Unicredit has announced that it would wind down its business in the rf. In 2025, the russian “unicreditbank” will reduce significantly all its operations in the russian market. Cross-border transfers will be reduced threefold compared to the beginning of 2022 (to EUR 8.5 billion), the volume of loans issued in the rf will be reduced sevenfold, to EUR1 billion. In addition, the bank plans to decrease fourfold its deposits from russian clients: next year, no more than EUR 2 billion of individuals' and legal entities' funds should remain on its accounts in the rf. In the first half of 2024, “unicreditbank”'s loan portfolio already decreased by 68% to EUR 2.3 billion, and the volume of cross-border transfers has decreased by 56% to EUR 11.2 billion.

On July 24, russia’s largest banks suffered a massive DDoS attack, which resulted in the failure of their websites and mobile applications to open.

Due to the uncontrolled rise in fuel prices, the government of the rf plans to ban the export of diesel fuel, having earlier banned the export of petrol. Since the beginning of the year, the stock price of diesel fuel has increased by 21% to 62 thousand rubles a ton. The price increase is expected to continue due to accidents at refineries.

The state duma of the rf has passed in the second and third readings a draft law aimed at simplifying the procedure for transferring confiscated and unclaimed weapons to the combat zone against Ukraine.

Airfares for economy class flights within the rf have risen by 31% in six months, the rosstat has reported; in June, the prices increased by 14%.

In the first half of 2024, the average cost of construction materials for housing repairs in the rf amounted to 9.6 thousand rubles for 1 square meter, by 14% higher compared to last year (in st. petersburg, the figure reached 10 thousand rubles for 1 square meter). Over the past two years, the average cost of rough materials has increased by 20%, and the cost of finishing materials – by 25%.

According to rosstat, only 48.7% of russians can afford to buy durable goods; 11.2% of families who could buy food during the year but had difficulty buying clothes and paying for housing and utilities.

Due to the shortage of labor, minors are being actively recruited in the rf: in the first quarter alone, one of the recruitment websites posted more than 18,000 vacancies for 14+ applicants (almost the same number of ads as for the entire last year).

Minister of foreign affairs of the dprk has said that the government of the country is firmly committed to opening a new era in the development of bilateral relations through the comprehensive expansion and strengthening of relations with the rb, which pursues common ideals and goals. Minister of foreign affairs of the rb ryzhenkov has said that he will deepen relations between the two countries, as lukashenko and kim jong-un want.

The economic court of vitebsk region has ruled on the bankruptcy case of the “vizas” sharpening equipment plant. Since 2019, the plant has been in the “pre-trial rehabilitation” mode, but despite the availability of expensive equipment and property purchased earlier, it fell into a debt hole.