September 19, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Minister of Defence of Italia Guido Crozetto has said that Ukraine will have received the promised SAMP/T anti-aircraft missile system by the end of September.

Minister of Defence of the FRG Boris Pistorius hopes that the federal government will allocate additional funds for the supply of weapons to Ukraine. “Then we will be talking about a significant amount of hundreds of millions of euros”, Pistorius said.

This year, Lithuania is going to provide Ukraine with another EUR 40-50 million in military aid, including a EUR 10 million contribution to the production of the Palyanytsia missile-drone system.

The Estonian defense company Frankenburg Technologies has announced that it will start producing missile systems in Ukraine.

The government of Sweden has proposed a significant increase in the defense budget for 2025-2030 to meet NATO's target of 2% of GDP defense spending. The additional spending, as explained by government officials, will increase the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces of Sweden, strengthen the country's contribution to NATO operations, and “provide more ambitious and long-term support for Ukraine”.

President of Finland Alexander Stubb proposes to reform the UN Security Council, which should include increase the number of its members, abolishing the veto for any state and expelling any member that participates in “an illegal war, such as russia's invasion of Ukraine”.

Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller has emphasized that there is no one capability, such as long-range missiles, that can bring Ukraine's victory closer, but there is a whole range of weapons, and the United States is working to provide them to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

For the first time, Ukrainian drone technology manufacturers will be able to participate in tenders organized by the Drone Coalition within the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has expanded its assistance to Ukraine in the field of nuclear safety and support for the completion of Units 3 and 4 of the Khmelnytskyi NPP.

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Chief of the General Staff of the Estonian Defense Forces, Major General Vahur Karus has said that his country has changed its defense plan in case of russia’s attack – the Army may strike at the territory of russia if the latter decides to attack a NATO country.

The IMF mission has postponed its work in russia indefinitely.

In early September, the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA) detected isotopes of radioactive cesium-137 at two locations near the border with the rf.

Two US senators and more than a dozen of members of the House of Representatives have appealed to US President Joe Biden and government officials to impose sanctions against russian helium imports, which would prevent the rf from becoming one of the top three leaders in the global helium market.

“russia’s railways”, which is a state monopoly, has planned to increase tariffs for cargo transportation by 17.2-22.7% in 2025. It is also proposed to switch to the principle of increasing the tariff not according to consumer but industrial inflation, adding to this the accounting of the debt burden.

The maximum revenue of russian coal companies has fallen to $2 per ton. The profitability of coal deliveries from the ports of the far east has dropped to zero, and those through the ports of the northwest are below profitability.

Over the year, the volume of fish exports from russia decreased by 13% to 1.1 million tons. The number of countries available for russian fish exports decreased from 70 to 51.

The russian company “tatneft” has reported that in the first half of the year it reduced oil production by 4.7% to 13.66 million tons, and gas production – by 8.1% to 430 million cubic meters.

An inspection of hospitals in 13 regions of the rf has revealed that half of them do not comply with the mandatory requirements for immunization of children at risk with antibodies to prevent respiratory syncytial virus infection. As a result, 397 thousand children under the age of five fall ill in russia every year, with treatment costs exceeding RUB 2.2 billion. The main reason for the violation of current medical requirements is that hospitals do not have enough money to purchase the medicine.

According to the russian service “sletat.ru”, in the autumn, the cost of tourist trips within russia went up by 36%, to 94.3 thousand rubles.

The total cost of cash loans reached 29.3% in September, the united credit bureau reports. On average, in 2.5 years, russians will overpay 60% for what they borrow.

russia is considering imposing education fees for migrants. The relevant draft law will be submitted to the state duma. The uncontrolled increase in the number of migrant children in russian kindergartens and schools leads to a shortage of places in them, and right now the institutions need about 900,000 places, the explanatory note says. Therefore, foreigners should study “on a paid basis, at the expense of individuals and legal entities”.

russian women should give birth to children during breaks at work, said evgeny shestopalov, minister of healthcare of the primorye territory. In his opinion, employment is not an excuse for not having children, because “you can create offspring during breaks” and if there is no one to leave the child with after birth, one should take it to work.

sultan khamzayev, a member of the state duma, has proposed to make the day of sobriety a public holiday. In his opinion, free sports events and free access to swimming pools could be organized on this day. This will help promote a healthy lifestyle and reduce alcoholism in russia.

The EU Court of Justice dismissed the claims of “belaruskaliy” against the EU Council to lift the sanctions. The producer will also have to pay the legal costs incurred by the EU Council.

deputy head of the state customs committee of the rb danilovich has said that cargo traffic through the rb has decreased by 30% compared to last year due to sanctions and closure of border crossing points.

In August, only five belarusian maz buses were sold in russia. A year ago, 107 units were sold in the same month. In January-August 2024, 327 maz buses were sold on the russian market, which is half as many as in the same period last year (709).

The rb has banned the import and sale of the popular russian sunflower oil “sloboda”. The results of the research showed that the oil does not meet the requirements of the technical regulations of the customs union.