September 11, 2023 Ukraine and the World - Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

BAE Systems (United Kingdom) may start production of spare parts for the 105 mm light gun in Ukraine within a few months.

The partners promised Ukraine more Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns to protect the power grid.

President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol has announced provision of $2.3 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine for recovery: our country will receive the initial $300 million in 2024 in humanitarian aid, and the remaining $2 billion in long-term low-interest loans through the Fund for Economic Cooperation and Development (EDCF), starting in 2025.

Ukraine will start negotiations with Japan on “security guarantees”.

Poland will insure Polish investors and investors from other countries who are interested in rebuilding Ukraine.

“If Putin wins, it will mean that evil will become the norm for the world. Therefore, we must help Ukraine, because it is on the side of good and democracy... We have to help Ukraine reset economic growth by ensuring the Ukrainian businesses start-up in relatively safe territories”, said US Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau has said that Canada will never recognize the results of pseudo-elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and that putin will not be able to “redraw” the map, and “the territory of Ukraine will remain the territory of Ukraine”.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Alice Jill Edwards, pointed out that the torture and inhumane treatment of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war by the russian authorities cannot be assessed as an accident, but rather as an organized part of state policy. At the same time, she informed that during the conversation, russian prisoners of war were satisfied with the treatment of them in places of detention in Ukraine.

“.... And now we have to say it clearly – we want Ukraine to become a NATO member as soon as possible. As soon as possible”, said former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson.

At Ukrainian power plants, for the first time VVER 440 reactors were loaded with fuel produced by Westinghouse together with Energoatom.

From September 10, Estonia will provide temporary protection to Ukrainian refugees until March 2025.

The capital of Latvia, Riga, will receive 101 children from the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv for holidays in September.

Radoslaw Sikorski, a member of the European Parliament and head of the EU-US delegation, said at the YES annual meeting The Future Is Decided in Ukraine that russia will never be a democratic country, and Europe should not count on the normalization of relations with such an aggressive political regime.

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FBI Director Christopher Wray has said the number of russian spies in the USA remains “too high” despite recent efforts to neutralize them.

At the borders of the European Union, russian cars are being arrested. The European Commission reminded the rf that EU Council Regulation No. 833/2014 of July 31, 2014 “On Restrictive Measures in Connection with russia's Actions” provides for a ban on the sale and import of a number of goods (cargo), including cars, into the territory of EU countries. Also, russians crossing the EU border are prohibited from bringing personal belongings listed in Annex XXI of the regulation, in particular: mobile phones, laptops, suitcases, cosmetics, leather and fur products, semi-precious stones, toilet paper, shampoos, toothpastes, cameras.

Authorities of the rf have almost completely deprived their population of consular support in many European countries: due to the closure of consulates, it is very difficult to make an appointment, and the wait to visit a diplomatic institution stretches for months.

The fuel shortage in russia can stop harvesting and sowing winter crops, said the Minister of Rural Economy of the Russian Federation Patrushev. According to him, a week ago the problem was high fuel prices, now the situation has worsened: “We already have problems with the availability of fuel. We will now stop harvesting, and we will not weed out winter crops. It will be a disaster”.

kolesnikov, chairman of the association of individual farms and agricultural cooperative farms of the stavropol territory, has said that farmers cannot buy fuel, cannot sell crops at affordable prices and are ready to block roads. In russia, according to kolesnikov, there is a “crazy rise in prices” for diesel fuel, which has risen in price by 26% in wholesale since the beginning of summer. But even at a record price of more than 72 thousand rubles per ton, it is impossible to buy fuel. “Now there is no diesel fuel. The situation is critical, patience is running out, fear paralizes”, said the head of the farmers' association. The shortage of fuel is most acutely felt in the stavropol and krasnodar territories, adygea, astrakhan, samara, rostov regions, as well as in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

In autumn, russians’ holidaying in other countries have risen in price by an average of 28%, of the available destinations, most of all in Kazakhstan – by 38%, in Azerbaijan – by 47%, in Turkiye – by 45%, in Thailand – by 38%. In russia itself, the average cost of booking increased by 16-57%, depending on the destination, and the number of organized tours decreased to 21.6%.

In July-August 2023, the approval of microloans for russians borrowing money for the first time was only 13.2%. This is the lowest figure since the beginning of 2022, when the main crisis phenomena in the russian economy began, when the approval rate was 17-19%. The main reason is the decrease in the solvency of the population of the rf and the assessment by lenders of their own risks regarding the borrowers' compliance with payment discipline.

Due to the russian crisis, the authorities have reduced the cost of a bridge over the lena river in yakutia. It was planned that the three-kilometer bridge would be completed in 2024 for 176 billion rubles. However, on September 8, the design and estimate documentation for 122 billion rubles was approved.

The Japanese automaker Nissan refused to provide warranty service for cars in russia, emphasizing that from now on, russian avtovaz is fully responsible for servicing the cars sold.

Since the beginning of May, the city of moscow and moscow region have been attacked by 25 unmanned aerial vehicles, which led to the mass closure of airports in the capital of the rf and a change in the direction of flights of aircrafts. Each extra hour of flight, for example, of one Boeing 737-800, costs russian airlines an additional $ 8 thousand.

The cost of subscriptions to PlayStation Store games, which russian console users buy from the Turkish PlayStation store through intermediaries, has increased four to five times in recent days as Sony has significantly increased tariffs for Turkiye.

The russian social fund has stopped publishing data from the federal register of disabled persons (frd), and the “analytics” section has also disappeared from the frd website, which, among other things, showed the number of russians who acquired the status of disabled as a result of the war against Ukraine. The last such statistics was published as of June 2023, according to which more than 5 thousand people received the status of a military disabled during the 15 months of the war. The real number of people who have been injured exceeds the statistics available to the public by dozens of times – in russia, obtaining relevant certificates, drawing up the necessary documents, passing medical commissions, waiting for the official granting of the status of a disabled person takes months.

belarusian ambassador to russia dmitry krutoy said at the 5th far eastern forum of entrepreneurs in khabarovsk that 45% of the economy of the rb is under direct sanctions. Before the sanctions, the markets of Western Europe and Ukraine accounted for 40% of belarus in terms of importance. Today, they account for 5%, and this has actually happened in one year. krutoy admitted that it is very difficult to reorient such a flow of goods and cargo, which in monetary terms amounted to $10.5 billion.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights commented on the decision of belarusian authorities not to issue passports through embassies. The report says that the decree banning the issuance and renewal of foreign passports risks violating the rights of thousands of belarusians in exile, including freedom of movement. No one should feel compelled to go back and risk persecution. We call for a review of the decree in line with international standards.

The son of self-proclaimed president of belarus lukashenko, who is also the chairman of the national olympic committee of the republic of belarus, viktor lukashenko, expressed surprise that the International Olympic Committee and Federations have not yet sent invitations for belarusian athletes to participate in the Olympic Games. “We will wait”, the official said.