July 26, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands has assured that the 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks, which the Netherlands together with Denmark purchased for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, will arrive in Ukraine by the end of the summer.

The government of the United Kingdom has ordered a significant number of Martlet missiles worth 176 million pounds. Some of the missiles will be transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In September, Spain will provide Ukraine with a new additional battery of Hawk air defense systems.

Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic Jana Černohová has announced that her Ministry is preparing to launch a second initiative to supply Ukraine with artillery ammunition in 2025 with the participation of Czech manufacturers.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski believes that sooner or later Ukraine will receive permission from its allies to strike with Western weapons at targets located deep in the rf’s territory.

The total value of Poland's various assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces since February 2022 has exceeded $4 billion.

Since February 2022, Japan's “budgetary assistance” to our country has reached $6.3 billion, of which almost $1 billion – in grants.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will attract additional investments to rebuild Ukraine – 14 Japanese companies have already expressed their willingness to invest in the recovery of the Ukrainian economy.

Finland has allocated EUR 2 million to support elderly Ukrainians in the frontline areas.

“...We have constantly proclaimed this position, in particular for our colleagues in China. It is that China, as a member of the UN and the UN Security Council, should use its influence on the rf to stop this war in Ukraine”, said Nabila Massrali, Spokesperson for the European Commission.

“The first thing russia should do is to stop its horrible war of aggression against Ukraine and give up its attempt to conquer the whole country”, said Chancellor of the FRG Olaf Scholz about the conditions for giving up the plans to deploy US Tomahawk missiles in his country.

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The EU countries did not support the proposal of Hungary and Slovakia to resume oil supplies from the rf through Ukraine.

Ministers of Finance of eight EU countries (Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Poland) believe that russia is providing false information about the strength and power of its economy, so Western sanctions are really working and should be strengthened.

Lithuania will receive financial support from the European Commission to strengthen the protection of its border with the rf.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), US sanctions against the rf and internal logistical difficulties will affect russian coal exports, which will decrease by 16 million tons in 2024 compared to last year. This will be the largest decline among all global producers.

Due to the record high wholesale fuel prices in the rf, filling stations operators have started to suffer losses. According to the consulting company “petromarket”, on average in the rf, the net sales margin of AI-95 at filling stations has dropped to minus 1.2 rubles per liter, of AI-92 – to 2.2 rubles, and of diesel – to 3.1 rubles. The main reason for the rise in wholesale fuel prices is the slow production amid frequent accidents at refineries. Filling stations operators have warned the public that they will raise prices at their stations.

Due to the growing financial risks, the central bank of the rf is going to tighten the requirements for granting loans to russian companies. In June, companies borrowed 1 trillion rubles, and in the first half of the year the volume of loans increased by 5.6 trillion rubles, which is by 7.5% more than last year. At the same time, companies say that lending conditions in the economy as a whole have already become tighter compared to the previous month. Along with the increase in interest rates, banks are toughening non-price lending conditions (e.g., increasing the time for reviewing applications, the number of monthly and quarterly reports on the status of financial flows, etc.).

According to the passport index rating for visa-free travel compiled by the international consulting company Henley & Partners, the russian passport has lost seven positions over the past ten years; Venezuela (-17 positions), Yemen (-15), Nigeria and Syria (-13 positions each) have lost more than russia.

putin has instructed the russian government to prepare a plan to relocate state-owned companies from moscow to the interior of russia, in particular to the urals, siberia and the far east, by October 1, 2024.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski has said that the possible closure of the border with the rf is Poland’s sovereign right. According to him, most border crossings have already been closed, which causes inconvenience to both Polish and belarusian citizens, but the rb’s regime leaves no other choice.

The economic court of grodno region has opened a bankruptcy case against the “romaks factory”, a manufacturer of soap, detergents and polishes. The debt that the company cannot repay exceeds 16 million rubles.

In the krasnodar territory of the rf, the implementation of an investment project to create a plant for assembling buses and electric buses in the rb has been suspended over the high cost of production and its non-competitiveness.

The shortage of personnel in the rb is growing every month. The number of vacancies has already exceeded 164.6 thousand. However, according to the ministry of labor and social protection, as of July 1, only four thousand people were registered as unemployed in employment centers.

Another 13 people have been recognized as political prisoners in the rb, according to the Human Rights Center “Viasna”. As of today, 1,380 people have the status of political prisoners in the rb.