March 29, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Germany has announced the next tranche of military aid to Ukraine, which includes, in particular, 18,000 155 mm shells, ammunition for Leopard 2A6 tanks, 14 Vector reconnaissance UAVs, 30 RQ-35 Heidrun reconnaissance UAVs, 180 RF 360 field kits for detecting drones, 24,000 40 mm ammunition for automatic grenade launchers, 5 Warthog tracked repair/recovery vehicles, 9 Warthog tracked all-terrain command vehicles, 6 WISENT 1 mine-clearing tanks, 2 BIBER bridge laying tanks, one Bergepanzer 2 armoured recovery vehicle, one armoured engineer vehicle 2A1 Dachs, 9 mine ploughs, 3 border protection vehicles, 6 Mercedes-Benz Zetros fuel tankers, 1 Satcom surveillance system, 330 IR cameras, 2,056 RGW90 Matador grenade launchers and 70 GMG grenade launchers, 3,000 camouflage nets, 2,000 ponchos and 2 emergency power generators.

The government of the Czech Republic has approved the allocation of money for its own initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine outside the European Union.

russian terrorists’ attacks on the Ukrainian energy industry, which are carried out on the orders of the russian dictator putin, are beyond human understanding. The russian terrorist regime will pay for it, besides, despite all efforts, the terrorists did not succeed – Ukrainian energy works and demonstrates extraordinary resilience, – said the US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt. The American official pointed out that putin has lost the European energy market, which is why he hysterically attacks Ukrainian energy industry.

Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk has assured that “there is no such force in the world, in Ukraine, in Poland, which could undermine our friendship (between Ukraine and Poland), solidarity, cooperation, especially in the face of a common threat, which is russia's aggression in Ukraine, and russia's aggressive policy towards the European Union and the entire West”.

“It seems to me that some media in the West are not shocked enough by this unprecedented wave of air terrorism against Ukraine”, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski said about the rf’s latest air attacks on Ukraine.

Members of the Lithuanian Seimas have voted for amendments to the law on public procurement, which will allow organizations to purchase and use for testing or transfer to other states drones with components from Chinese manufacturers. “Due to the lack of shells and weapons in Ukraine, drones have become an important part of military operations”, the authors of the amendments said.

“We do not have an alternative to the fact or to the request that Ukraine has to win, Ukraine has to succeed. It is in our genuine interest to make this happen”, said Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, a Member of the European Parliament. According to the MEP, everyone understands the threat that russia poses not only to Ukraine, but if Ukraine fails, “it will be horrible and it will also be a signal to other autocrats and other dictators”.

Head of the Situation Center for Ukraine at the German Ministry of Defense, Major General Christian Freuding believes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are demonstrating “resilient and stable defense”.

Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine Martin Öberg believes that Ukraine is up to economic growth above the world average, and this will create new opportunities not only for Ukrainians, but also for EU businesses.

EU Ambassadors agreed on a new compromise on the continuation of trade measures for Ukraine, which ensures a balanced approach between supporting Ukraine and protecting EU agricultural markets.

UNESCO has adopted a decision on actions and a program of emergency assistance to Ukraine.

The Berlin transport company is donating over 12 trams and spare parts for them to Lviv.

rf

US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Jeffrey Payett has assured that the US, together with other G7 countries, is working on additional steps to reduce russia's ability to get profits from the sale of oil.

The United States, together with the G7 countries, is advocating the termination of cooperation with russia regarding the receipt of nuclear fuel from it. At the same time, the G7 is discussing the possibility of further lowering the price ceiling for russian oil.

The United States has imposed sanctions on six individuals and two companies based in russia, China and the United Arab Emirates for financing north korea's weapons program.

“Lithuania proposes that the European Commission assess all possibilities at EU level and make a proposal to suspend waste imports from russia to the EU or allow Member States to adopt unilateral restrictive measures. We believe that such imports contribute to financing russia’s war against Ukraine and should be stopped”, said Deputy Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the EU Jurga Kasputene.

The European Union will introduce a 50% tariff on agricultural products from the rf and the rb.

Banks in Switzerland have begun to close the accounts of customers who have russian citizenship, even if they simultaneously have a passport of some other country.

The Prosecutor's Office in Hamburg (Germany) has indicted five men involved in the illegal supply of Siemens gas turbines to Crimea in 2017.

russian propagandist burtseva, who worked with a russian media group that is under EU sanctions, has been detained in Estonia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia has declared a diplomat of the russian embassy in Riga persona non grata, he must leave the country by April 10.

The Internal Security Agency of Poland is conducting searches of suspects in the investigation of “espionage for russia”.

The Austrian brick concern Wienerberger – the largest brick producer in the world – has got rid of its plants in russia.

Since the beginning of 2024, the cost of auditing services in the rf has risen by 4-7%.

In 2023, the share of the profit of the russian state holding “united shipbuilding corporation” from civil shipbuilding was only 17%. According to the assessment of the rf government, “the company builds ships at a loss, slowly and expensively for the customer”. The kaliningrad shipyards, the amur and khabarovsk shipbuilding companies, the eastern shipyard, and plants in Crimea, temporarily occupied by the rf, are the most unprofitable. Many customers reject contracts with the “united shipbuilding corporation” and switch to China and Turkey.

In 2022, the share of counterfeit electric cables in the rf increased from 15% to 40%, and by the end of 2023, in general, counterfeiting in construction amounted to 70%, the ministry of industry and trade of the rf reported.

In the first quarter of 2024, the average price of apartments on the secondary market in the rf in cities with a population of 500 thousand or more increased by 14.1% to 131.3 thousand rubles for 1 sq. m. (in industrial centers by 30%), at the same time, demand decreased by 10–30% over the weak solvency of the majority of the population.

The main directorate of the ministry of the interior of moscow has reported that in 2023, the number of extremist crimes in the russian capital increased by 23%, and the number of incitement of hatred or enmity doubled.

In the period from October 2023 to March 2024, the price of canned Pacific sardines (ivasi) in russia rose in price by 23–25%, herring – by 12–15%, mackerel – by 8–10%, grayling – by 6–7%, Atlantic sardines – by 4–5%, saury – by 1.5–2%. The analytical center of the fishery union has stated that the average monthly price of ivasi in moscow in June 2023 was 45 rubles a kilogram, and by January 2024 it increased to 92 rubles a kilo.

belgorod region will reduce the cultivated area, which will affect the volume of production and the cost of products, – governor glutkov has warned the authorities of the rf.

From April 3, 2024, the Samsung Pay company will disable cards of the “mir” payment system in the rb too.

According to belstat, the population of the rb as of January 1, 2024 was 9 million 155 thousand 978 people. Compared to January 1, 2023, it decreased by 44,639 people. Compared to January 1, 2022, the country's population decreased by 99,546 people, and compared to the beginning of 2020, by 254,281 people.

The national bank of the rb has submitted for discussion a draft law concerning the development of non-cash payments. The draft law envisages a step-by-step reduction of the maximum amount of cash payments that companies and private individuals can accept from individuals for the goods sold and services provided during 2024-2025. They want to lower the ceiling on these amounts to 100 basic values ​​(up to 4 thousand rubles today). Currently, it is 500 basic, or 20 thousand rubles.

The ministry of internal affairs of the rb has recognized the Association of Belarusians in America as an “extremist organization”. In the list of the ministry, it is defined as “a group of citizens from among the creators, administrators and other participants of Internet resources under the common name “ABA Together (Association of Belarusians in America)”. It includes resources on social networks, messengers, a PayPal account, a YouTube channel and a logo.

Since April 1, the network of belarusian charging stations malanka will raise the cost of charging cars both at fast stations (direct current) and at slow charging stations (alternating current). According to the operator, the increase is related to the 16% increase in the cost of electricity provided by belenergo for charging stations.

rosselkhoznadzor found salmonella in the products of the belarusian enterprise “miorsk meat processing plant”. The status of these products in the register of enterprises of the customs union was changed to “strengthened laboratory control”.

From April 1, some brands of cigarettes will increase in price by an average of 20-30 kopecks.