September 17, 2022 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The new package of US aid to Ukraine, worth up to $600 million, will include additional shells for the HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems, 36,000 105-mm shells, 1,000 high-precision 155-mm shells and four counter-battery radars, four trucks and eight trawlers for transporting heavy equipment, anti-drone systems, demining equipment, Claymore anti-personnel mines, explosives, small arms and ammunition, night vision devices, winter clothing and other field equipment.

Minister of Defense of Lithuania Arvydas Anusauskas said: “Lithuania is taking on a new mission – the PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers owned by the Ukrainians will be repaired, and after that they will be able to perform their tasks in countering russian aggression”.

Belgium will provide additional military aid to Ukraine in the amount of 12 million euros, which will include large-caliber machine guns and ammunition for them, as well as non-lethal equipment, said Minister of Defence of Belgium Ludivine Dedonder.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen opposed the position of Germany, which refuses to supply battle tanks to Ukraine. “I support European countries supplying what Ukraine really needs. After all, Ukrainians are proving that they can defend themselves if they have the right military means”, said von der Leyen.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has announced that they will send a group of employees to the city of Izyum in Kharkiv region to check the places of mass burials.

Pope Francis called it “morally acceptable” to provide weapons to Ukraine, because these weapons are used for self-defense.

The European Parliament demands that russia immediately stop all forced transfers of Ukrainian citizens to the rf and the russian-occupied territories.

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As part of a new package of sanctions, the USA will introduce a ban on the export, re-export and sale of quantum computing services to russia starting October 15, – the US Treasury Department announced. The new package of US sanctions is directed against enterprises of the defense sector and high-tech companies of the rf. In total, more than 30 companies and 40 individuals are included in the list of sanctions. At the same time, the United States will introduce sanctions against financial institutions for servicing the russian payment system “mir” outside the rf, – the Office of Foreign Assets Control explained.

russian design centers and the largest manufacturers of computer equipment, including baikal electronics, mtsst, nvts, elvis,, aquarius, and nero were included in the US sanctions list. As a result of the new sanctions, it will be very difficult for these companies to start implementing projects that were planned as early as 2021. At the same time, the last opportunity to adjust the production of russian processors at foreign factories is being lost.

On September 16, the Federal Council of Switzerland announced the suspension of the visa facilitation agreement with russia. The government emphasized that the decision corresponds to the common visa policy in Europe.

Also, Switzerland will no longer exchange tax information with the rf. The country agreed to start such an exchange only in 2019 – before that, the Swiss authorities refused this measure, citing the high level of corruption and weak protection of personal data in russia.

Latvia has restricted the entry of russian citizens with Schengen visas since September 19 for security reasons. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs, wrote about this on Twitter: “russians, do not try to cross the border, you are not welcome here, stop the war against Ukraine and get out of that beautiful country!”

russia officially ceased to be a high contracting party to the “European Convention on Human Rights” on September 16 due to exclusion from the Council of Europe.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a decision to ensure the responsibility of the rf for aggression against Ukraine.

The government of Estonia has canceled the agreement with russia on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters.

Members of the roscosmos delegation, who were going to the International Astronautical Congress in Paris, were denied visas.

gazprom has reported on the production and export of gas for eight months: the production is 300.8 billion cubic meters of gas (by 15.9% less than last year); export to countries far abroad is 84.8 billion cubic meters (by 38.8% less than the same figures last year); in the domestic market, demand has decreased by 3.3% (by 5.4 billion cubic meters).

russian pilots complain about the non-transparent practice of dismissal from airlines based on the results of internal exams. In particular, in the letter of the Sheremetyevo flight staff union to the management of rosaviatsia, it was noted that “the airline is faced with the task of reducing the number of personnel in any way”. Up to 170 pilots are being prepared for dismissal at the pobeda airline due to the loss of 30 aircrafts. Under the same circumstances, almost 250 long-haul aircraft pilots “are too many” in the aeroflot staff. In the first half of 2022, almost a thousand pilots have already lost their jobs, said the president of the flight staff trade union, boychuk.

russian manufacturers of heating equipment complain that the government's cancellation of subsidies for transport costs for the export of their products has led to a several-fold decrease in the volume of supplies to other countries. They claim a decrease in the profitability of their business, low utilization of production capacities, and the inability to compete on foreign markets with European and Chinese manufacturers.

Danish meat producer Goodvalley has sold its business in russia. As of 2021, Goodvalley had 35 farms in Poland, Ukraine, and russia, and used 42,000 hectares of land.

According to economists, not all member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) benefit from trade and economic relations with belarus, which has applied for membership in this organization. If we do not count russia, the rest of the SCO members (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India and Uzbekistan) try this way or other to comply with the sanctions imposed by the USA, trying not to fall under them. Most likely, belarus will remain in the SCO as an observer for the time being, as the conditions for its acceptance into the organization are currently unfavorable.

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) has decided to extend the suspension of the russian and belarusian national teams from the competition. Besides, the membership of the federations of the aggressor countries in the organization was terminated. 40 people spoke in support of ending the membership of the russian and belarusian federations (one was “against”, four abstained).