November 8, 2023 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands has reported that five Dutch F-16 fighter jets for training Ukrainian pilots are now on their way to the European Training Center (EFTC) in Romania.

The Ukrainian Army will be the first operator of the latest Boxer 155 Remotely Controlled Howitzers. KNDS intends to hand over the first howitzers as early as 2024.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Annalena Baerbock has pointed out that Ukraine remains the main issue on the agenda of the G7 Foreign Ministers at the meeting in Tokyo on November 7-8, in particular, the participants will continue to work “on creating an air defense shield for Ukraine”.

Germany has provided Ukraine with EUR700,000 for grants to restore the Internet in de-occupied territories.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Yoko Kamikawa has said that the G7 countries’ support for Ukraine will not be affected by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. “Our commitment to continue strict sanctions against russia and strong support for Ukraine will not waver, even as the situation in the Middle East intensifies”, Kamikawa said.

“My ministers will work closely with international partners to support Ukraine, strengthen NATO and address the most pressing security challenges”, said King Charles III of the United Kingdom.

“Romania will continue to help Ukraine regardless of the political costs. These political costs are less important than the precedent a russian victory would create”, said Prime Minister of Romania Marcel Ciolacu.

The EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, has called for preventing a weakening of attention to Ukraine and the unity of allies in supporting it.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis expects a positive assessment from the European Commission on Ukraine's readiness to start negotiations on EU membership.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Krišjānis Kariņš believes that media attention has shifted to the Middle East due to the aggravation in that region, but the willingness of Western allies to support Ukraine remains unchanged. At the same time, Kariņš is sure that the EU will be able to cope simultaneously with internal reform and the admission of new members, and the refusal to enlarge “will not lead to anything good” but will play into the hands of russia's imperial ambitions.

Soros’ Open Society Foundations plans to implement new projects in Ukraine related to supporting Ukrainians during the full-scale war.

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Representative of the US Department of Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff believes that the use of russian nuclear fuel in the United States poses a critical threat to the country's national security.

Underground gas storage facilities in the EU are 99.6% full; the target level before the start of the heating season of 90% was reached back in August with almost no injection of russian gas.

Minister of Environment and Climate of Finland Kai Mykkänen has proposed to ban the import of liquefied natural gas from russia.

In Finland, russian millionaire Alyoshin’s real estate worth € 2.5 million has been confiscated under international sanctions.

Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander De Croo has called for the development of a legal framework for the transfer of russian assets to Ukraine in order to eliminate the risks of destabilizing the international financial system.

France is investigating the rf’s possible involvement in the painting of Stars of David on houses in Paris.

The Lithuanian company LTG Cargo is asking the country's Prosecutor's Office to investigate a possible violation of international sanctions during the export of luxury cars to the rf.

In Lithuania, former politician Algirdas Paleckis, convicted of espionage, was charged with defamation and public approval of the crimes of the regimes of the USSR or Nazi Germany.

The Director General of the Food and Veterinary Service of Latvia (PVD), Māris Balodis, will ask the European Commission to impose restrictions on the commercial import of cats and dogs from russia and belarus.

Due to the weakening of the ruble against the US dollar, russians began to buy real estate in Dubai much less, cancel previously concluded transactions and sell real estate at speculative prices: from June to August, objects were purchased for a total of $ 39.9 million, sold for $ 75.1 million. One of the reasons for the decline in russians' demand for real estate is the decision of some russian banks to reduce currency transfer services to the United Arab Emirates.

The international express delivery company DHL has announced an increase in prices in russia by an average of 35%.

russia has completed the procedure for withdrawing from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. In response, NATO member states will approve the same decision.

According to the professional service action medicina, 28.2% of russian doctors complain about the idle time of expensive high-tech equipment. The lack of competent specialists was stated by 57.4% of respondents out of those who mentioned the problem of equipment downtime, the need for repairs, but the lack of funds or spare parts - 28.4%, the lack of consumables - 20.3%. 14% of respondents said that the medical equipment in their institutions is obsolete and impractical to use. 52% of respondents send patients to other medical organizations, both public and private, due to downtime medical equipment.

goryunov, director general of the st. petersburg stock exchange, which fell under US sanctions, must leave his post and resign from the board of directors.

According to the “platform” center for social and political studies and information technologies of the russian state university for the humanities, 63% of respondents (out of 1,200 surveyed) have a positive attitude to the inclusion of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the rf, 28% are neutral, and 8% are against.

The incidence of COVID-19 increased by 31.7% during the week in russia, the federal operational staff said. An increase in the incidence was recorded in 73 regions of russia, in 18 regions the number of the infected is higher than the national average. Over the past seven days, 34,191 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed.

By the end of the year, Latvia will build almost 20 km more of fence on the border with belarus. At the beginning of November, a 92.1 km long barrier had already been built. In total, 112 km of the fence are planned to be built this year.

According to experts from the independent analytical center BEROC, in the context of overheating of the economy and increased external price pressure, inflation in belarus in the fourth quarter of this year will increase to 5-6%. In the context of overly stimulating domestic economic policy, by the end of 2024, it may reach 8–10%.

In 2023, about 10 thousand people have been drafted into the armed forces and other formations of belarus, of which 2 thousand are citizens of minsk. According to specialists of military medical commissions, among the most common diseases of young people today are myopia due to computer addiction and back pain due to a sedentary lifestyle. However, according to the new rules, in most cases, scoliotic and kyphotic changes in the spine are no longer grounds for unfitness for service. Also, the belarusian army accepts conscripts with some heart anomalies, as well as with flat feet and bronchial asthma if there have been no attacks for five years. Only young people with high-grade myopia and third-degree obesity are unfit for military service.

deputy head of the football federation of the republic of belarus vladimir bazanov, who was going to Hungary for the match of the women's national team of belarus against the team of Slovenia, was not allowed to enter Poland, and the visa was canceled. bazanov was unable to travel with the women's national team through the Baltic states, as he has been on the sanctions lists of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia since 2020.