September 7, 2024 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

The United States has announced a new $250 million military aid package, which includes air defense missiles, ammunition for rocket systems and artillery, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons. In particular, Ukraine will receive RIM-7 and Stinger missiles, M113 armored personnel carriers, MRAP transporters, HIMARS ammunition, 155 mm and 105 mm shells, TOW, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank missiles. The aid package also includes ammunition for small arms and grenades.

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has pointed out that the United States, Ukraine, and a number of European countries are working to develop and create a replacement for the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system and the R-27 air-to-air missile.

Canada has announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine, which will include aircraft missiles, small arms and equipment, including 80,840 additional engines for CRV-7 aircraft missiles and 1,300 warheads, 960 C6 machine guns and 10,500 9- mm pistols, chassis for 29 M113 tracked armored personnel carriers and 64 Coyote light armored personnel carriers, 10 ambulances, etc.

Minister of Defence of Canada Bill Blair has said that this week a group of Ukrainian pilots has arrived in Canada to undergo training under the fighter-lead-in-training (FLIT) program.

The United Kingdom will provide Ukraine with 650 lightweight, multi-purpose missiles worth £162 million to strengthen our air defense.

UK Defense Secretary John Healey has called unwavering support for Ukraine his “number one priority” and pointed out that the Ukrainian offensive in kursk region stumped putin.

Minister of Defence of the FRG Boris Pistorius has announced the transfer of 12 more Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery systems to Ukraine: 6 of them this year and 6 more next year, for a total of EUR 150 million. He also said that Germany and other European partners want to deliver 77 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine as soon as possible.

“Ukraine needs more military support right now. The fastest way to end this war is to provide weapons to Ukraine”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized. He confirmed that in 2025 our country will receive military assistance from NATO worth EUR 40 billion.

“Only the Ukrainians can make the difficult choices that are needed, such as where to deploy their forces and what type of warfare is appropriate in this situation”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces achieved “a lot” during the operation in kursk region in the rf.

The government of Sweden has decided to allocate an additional SEK 500 million (almost EUR 44 million) to support heat and power supply in Ukraine.

Ukraine has received EUR 70 million from the Council of Europe Development Bank (EBRD) under the “HOME. Compensation for Destroyed Housing” project.

EU is increasing by EUR 40 million its humanitarian aid for winter preparedness in Ukraine.

Following the completion of the Eurobond debt restructuring, Fitch Ratings has upgraded Ukraine's Long-Term Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to “CCC+” from “CCC-“ and affirmed its Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR at “RD” (Restricted Default).

rf

“There are examples showing that if someone acts as they please, using power without higher accountability, their room for manoeuvre shrinks”, Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) believes in the prospect of criminal proceedings against putin.

The United States has indicted six citizens and residents of russia for involvement in large-scale cyber attacks against Ukraine and NATO states ahead of a full-scale russian invasion in 2022 – five of the defendants were officers of military unit 29155 of the main directorate of the of the general staff of the armed forces of the rf, and the sixth is a civilian accused of conspiracy to defraud.

The US FBI has stated that Germany has been one of the main targets of russian disinformation for at least two years.

American-born russian propagandist dimitri simes and his wife, anastasia, have been indicted in the United States on charges of violating the sanctions regime and money laundering.

YouTube has shut down the Tenet Media channel and four other channels of its owner Lauren Chen after the US Department of Justice filed criminal charges against them for posting russian propaganda content.

The Military Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands (MIVD) has issued a warning about russian cyber operations by a military unit of the main directorate of the general staff of the russian armed forces aimed at undermining the West’s aid to Ukraine.

The government of the Netherlands has extended export bans on equipment manufactured by the Dutch company ASML Holding, one of the world's leading manufacturers of photolithography machines used to produce microchips. The new restrictions have been imposed for “security reasons,” especially important “in the current geopolitical environment”, said Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Reinette Klever.

Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Jozef Síkela has told the European Commission that the Czech gas transportation system has enough capacity to replace the current transit in case of termination of russian gas supplies through Ukraine.

Lithuania has installed mines, hedgehogs and dragon's teeth anti-tank barriers near the Luiza Bridge, which connects the Lithuanian city of Panemunė with the russian city of sovetsk in kaliningrad region. Anti-tank barriers have also been installed on the banks of the Neman River. The Republic's Ministry of Defense has stated that this is a “precautionary step to ensure more effective defence” and maintain security in the country. By the end of the year, Lithuania will allocate more than EUR 4 million to install anti-tank barriers on the border with the rf and the rb. In total, over the next ten years, the republic will spend EUR 600 million to strengthen the state border.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Indian shipping companies Gotik Energy Shipping Co and Plio Energy Cargo Shipping OPC PVT LTD, whose vessels illegally tried to transport gas from novatek's sanctioned russian “arctic lng -2” project. The gas transportation vessels “New Energy” and “Mulan” have been sanctioned.

Joyson Safety System, an American manufacturer of car steering wheels, belts, and airbags, has finalized all the formalities for the sale of its business in the rf.

The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer has filed 69 lawsuits against russian state customers and distributors who have signed contracts with “akselfarma”, which violated its patent rights and supplies a generic of the oncological medicine with the active ingredient axitinib.

The international Polish-Lithuanian investigative team decided to arrest in absentia the citizens of the rb – former director of belaeronavigatsiya leonid churo, chief of the control shift (flight сcontrol officer) evgeny tsyganov, and an unnamed senior kgb official. They are charged with an act of terror: fraudulently taking control of a Ryanair plane in May 2021 (Article 166 of the Criminal Code of Poland), as well as illegal imprisonment of passengers and crew members (Article 180 of Poland’s Criminal Code).

The Command of the Armed Forces of Poland has reported that more than 6.1 thousand servicemen were involved in the “Safe Podliassie” operation to strengthen border security with the rb in August. They detained 1,400 violators within the month.

Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan Yoshimasa Hayashi has said that Tokyo protested to minsk over the “investigation” on belarusian television about Japanese citizen Masatoshi Nakanishi, who was detained on suspicion of espionage.

minister of sports and tourism of the rb sergey kovalchuk has said that the rb was unable to pay its contribution to the World Anti-Doping Agency due to sanctions in the banking sector. Last year, the Agency was supposed to receive $46,032 from the rb, and this year – $49,340.

In the first half of this year, the trade turnover between the rb and Kazakhstan decreased by 16.3% to $411 million compared to the same period in 2023. In particular, exports of Kazakhstan’s watermelons and melons to the rb decreased almost sixfold to 348.5 tons.

The Human Rights Center “Viasna” has reported that after releasing 53 political prisoners from belarusian prisons under amnesty in August, the authorities imprisoned 52 new political prisoners the same month.