Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Poland may provide Ukraine with a EUR 120 million loan to buy products from the Polish defense industry.

“It is in the interests of both sides of the Atlantic to put much more economic pressure on the rf. This pressure is very effective in terms of the power of persuasion. I believe that given the current state of russia’s economy, (the russians) will not be able to withstand economic pressure for long. Therefore, sooner or later, if these measures are implemented, russia will have no choice but to sit down at the negotiating table, which it has so far refused to do,” said President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel.

Between January and July 2025, Gazprom had pumped 9.93 billion cubic meters of gas to its remaining European customers through the Turkish Stream, the last pipeline available for gas supplies to the EU. Compared to the same period last year, when Gazprom sold 18.3 billion cubic meters to Europe, the volumes have almost halved. On average, 1.4 billion cubic meters of gas were supplied to the European market every month, and if the pace continues, Gazprom will export only about 17 billion cubic meters to Europe by the end of the year, which will be a new anti-record since the early 1970s. For comparison: In 1975, the USSR’s European gas exports amounted to 19.3 billion cubic meters per year, and in 1980, after a major contract with Germany, they reached 54.8 billion. At its peak, in 2018-19, Gazprom had been pumping 170-180 billion cubic meters a year to Europe. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the volumes fell to 28 billion cubic meters in 2023 and 32 billion – in 2024.

The housing market crisis, which followed the curtailment of preferential mortgages and a decline in apartment sales, hit the finances of russia’s largest developers. Nine out of the 20 largest housing construction companies in terms of volume saw their revenues decline significantly in the first six months of 2025.

“russian Railways” is sending its employees on voluntary–forced unpaid leave due to the plummeting freight traffic that has hit the company’s finances.

The number of foreign tourists in russia decreased by 10 % in the first half of the year.

Sales of new cars in russia decreased by 26 % in seven months.

Since the beginning of 2025, corruption cases have been opened in russia against almost 100 high-ranking officials. This is a record for 10 years. The statistics include deputies and officials not lower than deputy heads of federal and regional ministries and agencies, as well as mayors of regional capitals and their deputies. The defendants in almost a third of criminal cases (28 %) are law enforcement officers, followed by representatives of the construction and housing and utilities sector (18 %), economy and industry (11 %), and transportation and environmental management (8 % each).

Authorities of the rf are planning to introduce a tax on Western software for russian companies. A number of companies are creating the appearance of replacing foreign software with russian one – “paper” projects and a parallel reporting loop – while the real work is still connected to old Western systems.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the rf is “preparing the ground” for the closure of the most popular messengers. In particular, the agency has published statistics showing that Telegram and WhatsApp are leading in terms of cybercrime. For comparison, they took the created on 2025 Max messenger, with the use of which not a single crime was committed.

New buildings in St. Petersburg have lost the “luxury of emptiness”: the area of a new apartment in the city has decreased by an average of 3 meters over the past 3 years. The size of studio apartments has especially decreased: they used to be about 30 m2, but now rarely exceed 24-25 m2. This is due to rising prices, declining purchasing power, and developers’ strategy to reduce the cost of housing.

The National Electronic Mass Media Council of Latvia (NEPLP) has decided to close access to ten more websites that spread russian propaganda. According to the Council, the sites justify russia’s war against Ukraine, glorify the occupation and provide information support to the aggressor. Latvia has been blocking similar sites since 2022, and today their number is 413.

In Latvia, the Prosecutor’s Office has charged members of the board of the local company SIA Arta-F with supplying sewing accessories and various raw materials for the production of uniforms for the russian army worth more than EUR 6 million.

“russia and its proxies are now actively focusing their efforts on the Moldovan diaspora”, Adviser to the President of the Republic of Moldova on Defense and National Security Stanislav Secrieru has warned once again of an attempt to interfere in the country’s parliamentary elections.

Police in Moldova have warned that a new scheme of illegal financing and bribery of voters has emerged in the country, which is being managed from russia through a mobile application. Law enforcers have warned the country’s population that a new scheme of illegal financing and bribery of voters has emerged in Moldova, which is being managed from russia through the Taito app, which operates on the Telegram platform.

The civilian monitoring platform Akylas.lt is resuming its activities ahead of the belarusian-russian “Zapad– 2025” exercise scheduled for early autumn. Established by the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union and the civic initiative Stiprūs kartu (“Strong Together”), the platform “gives residents the opportunity to report suspicious events or objects that may pose a threat to public safety or stability of the state”.

lukashenko is called “the most effective, consistent and successful defender of independence” in materials for “members of information- propaganda groups” for the July “single day of informing the population”.

The activity of migrants recorded by EU countries on the border with belarus is growing, despite the measures taken. In January–July 2025, 27360 attempts to illegally cross the border from belarus to the EU were recorded. This is by 7.2 % more than in the first seven months of last year and by 12.7 % more than in the same period in 2023.

In June, organizations in belarus fired more people than they hired. In the first half of the year, almost 326 thousand people were hired, while 349.2 thousand people were fired. As a result, the balance was in favor of dismissals – there were 23,186 more of them.

In belarus, 7,239 guilty verdicts have been handed down in politically motivated cases, and 1,184 political prisoners, including 175 women, remain in prison. Among them – 37 journalists.