September 28, 2023 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The short-term resolution on additional funding for the US government provides more than $6 billion to support Ukraine, of which most of the amount is for military needs.

“We believe that the bipartisan majority in the Congress are committed to supporting Ukraine”, White House Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.

The State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine and US Airbnb will cooperate to popularize Ukraine in the world as a tourist attractive destination.

Minister of Defense of the Netherlands Kajsa Ollongren has said that the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will begin in 2024.

President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola supports changes in the European Union related to preparations for the admission of new members in the future, primarily Ukraine.

The Steering Committee of the Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine in Brussels discussed Ukraine's financial needs after 2023, as well as its vision for the processes of recovery, reconstruction and modernization, and the ability to absorb donor funding for “rapid reconstruction” in 2023.

Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas has called on NATO countries to significantly increase defense spending. At the same time, Kallas constantly declares her unwavering believing in Ukraine's victory, despite the resources of the rf.

“These are unprofessional and useless statements”, former Commander of NATO Land Forces in Europe, retired US General Ben Hodges, commented on criticism of the actions of the Ukrainian Army in the war.

Lithuania has handed over sets of radar equipment to the Ukrainian Navy.

The Black Sea NATO countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey will create a joint minesweeping group to counter russia's mine danger.

Norway will allocate 1 billion kroner ($92 million) for humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

The Central Bureau of Statistics of the Netherlands has reported that the number of employed Ukrainian refugees in the country has increased.

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“Of course, I believe that representation in a body that deals with human rights is not in line with their actions in Ukraine”, said Spokesperson for the US Department of State Matthew Miller regarding russia's desire to regain membership in the UN Human Rights Council.

The US Department of Commerce has extended export restrictions on russian aeroflot for another 180 days.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office of the FRG is investigating a war crime committed by the russian military in Hostomel, Kyiv region, where a German citizen was injured.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament has suggested that the Native Language Society consider the possibility of using the historical name Königsberg instead of Kaliningrad in Estonian.

The civil initiative to close the russian consulate on the Åland Islands (Finland) has gained 50 thousand signatures required to be submitted to the Finnish Parliament.

One of the last brokers left in the rf with foreign shareholders, Merrill Lynch Securities (part of the Bank of America group, was in the top ten in the market before the military aggression against Ukraine) will close a deal to sell its business in russia in the coming days. In 2021, Merril Lynch Securities was one of the largest investment companies in the rf in terms of commission income from the provision of services in the stock market.

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume and number of users, which has more than 10 million customers in 180 countries, has announced its withdrawal from russia.

russian authorities hope that the 2023 budget will receive 114.5 billion rubles under the article on “non-refundable” revenues from non-governmental organizations, in particular from the tax on the sale of assets by foreign companies leaving the country (this article of the budget of the rf has been replenished since December 2022, when the kremlin introduced a commission for foreign companies’ selling their assets in the rf and called this tax “voluntary”).

russia's share in the total volume of oil imports by EU countries continues to decline. According to Eurostat, in the second quarter it was 2.7% against 15.9% a year earlier (minus 13.2%); in the first quarter – 3.2% (against 26% in January-March 2022).

The exchange price of fuel after the introduction of a ban on the export of petrol and diesel fuel by the russian authorities increased again: AI-92 by 2%, AI-95 by 1.3%. Fuel shortages in the regions of the rf continue. Oil refineries are demanding that the export ban be lifted urgently, otherwise it will harm the entire russian oil refining industry.

The latest survey of russians recorded an increase in respondents' concern about rising prices for most goods, including petrol, meat and poultry; consumer confidence declined, and respondents' propensity to save increased. The “inflation expected by the russians” officially declared by the russian authorities is set at 11.7%, compared to August, it increased by 0.2%.

russian restaurateurs have announced in the coming days the indexation of prices for sushi and rolls to 14% due to the rise in the price of raw materials. Thus, in September, salmon has risen in price by 25%, eel and tuna – by 20% since June, and chicken – by 30-50%. Due to the exchange rate, all imports, mostly Japanese, have risen in price: nori, shrimp, eel, etc. – have risen by more than 30%.

ural airlines and iFly have not yet been able to pay foreign lessors for the planes. OFAC's licenses for payments are valid to the end of September, the authorities promised to provide funds from the russian sovereign wealth fund a week ago, but as of September 27, this did not happen. We are talking about more than 50 billion rubles for insurance settlement for 22 aircrafts. Airlines say they face expired licenses.

rosaviatsia (federal air transport agency – Transl.), which is under international sanctions and cannot repair its aircrafts in time, has sent a circular to airlines regarding additional training of pilots to act in case of a failure of the aircraft landing gear retraction system. The main requirement is to oblige pilots to “correctly calculate the remaining fuel, taking into account its increased consumption, and only after that make a decision on the transfer to an alternate airfield”. One month is given to meet the requirements. The latest emergency landing of the A-320 passenger plane of ural airlines was qualified by rosaviatsia as a “serious incident”.

According to the statistical bulletin of the unified federal register of bankruptcy bulletins in the rf, it is possible to sell the property of debtors only with a public offer (third or fourth auction) with a price reduction of 60-70 percent (after its reduction by 10 percent) – the current procedure for forced sale is set up so that the debtor loses a lot of money, while dealers gain it.

Every taxi service in orel region is now required to register in the register of carriers, as well as provide a work permit document – because of this and the rapid increase in petrol prices, taxi prices have increased by 8.5%.

The incidence of influenza and SARS (information on COVID-19 is classified) has exceeded epidemic thresholds by 20% in 35 cities of russia. During the week, more than 1.2 million people fell ill in the rf.

Poland has joined England in boycotting russian junior football matches. Head of the Polish Football Association, Cezary Kulesza, has said that the Polish national teams will not play against russian teams.

head of the central election commission of the rb igor karpenko, has said that the refusal to form polling stations abroad in the upcoming elections “does not restrict the rights” of belarusians.

Due to the new decree “On the state registration and operation of civil unmanned aerial vehicles”, the number of drones offered for sale has increased sharply on belarusian trading platforms. Prices for them vary from 50 rubles to more than 3 thousand rubles. Most often, the reason for the sale is not specified, but the date of placement of the ads coincides with the adoption of the decree prohibiting such equipment. Within three months, owners must sell or transfer their UAVs for storage to an authorized organization. In order to prevent the import of UAVs and model aircrafts into the country, international postal items and goods going to the address of belarusians will be checked at special control points before delivery.

belarusian human rights activists recognized 11 more people as political prisoners. They are accused or sentenced to various terms under articles on insulting lukashenko, insulting a civil servant, and desecrating state symbols. In total, there are 1,493 political prisoners in belarus.

According to independent experts, the education system in belarus has not been reformed since the times of the ussr, its cost is much higher than in neighboring countries. The prestige of belarusian education has been catastrophically decreasing in recent years.