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

According to Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský, 16 countries participating in the ammunition supply initiative have already delivered more than one million shells to Ukraine.

“The Benelux countries reaffirm their commitment to supporting Ukraine on its path to EU membership.... and also confirm that Ukraine’s future lies in NATO,” reads a joint statement following a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Director-General for European Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Maxime Prévot has said that his country is ready to send its troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping mission with an appropriate international mandate.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel stressed the need to put pressure on russia to force it to stop the war in Ukraine. “... And we must be ready to support a strong Ukraine – not only today, but also tomorrow,” he concluded.

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The 19th package since the start of russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 is to be announced next month and will target ships in the “shadow fleet” and companies that help russia circumvent existing rules.

The European Union is considering restrictions on the movement of russian diplomats in the Schengen area as part of the 19th package of sanctions, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský said. The Czech Republic was the first to propose this ban back in 2023, as it considers diplomats to be “agents of the gru and other special services”.

Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz has accused putin of using a “delaying tactic” in the search for a peaceful solution to the situation in Ukraine. “putin considers it right to set conditions for a meeting between him and Volodymyr Zelenskyy that are completely unacceptable from the point of view of Ukraine and its Western partners,” Merz said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG Johann Wadephul believes that russia’s actions cast doubt on putin’s desire to achieve a just peace in Ukraine. Wadephul has called on putin to hold bilateral talks with the Ukrainian leader as soon as possible, threatening moscow with new sanctions. “If president putin thinks he can play for time he will have miscalculated,” Wadephul said.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb hopes that US President Donald Trump’s patience with russia will run out. According to Stubb, putin can only be forced to make peace by imposing tariffs on countries that continue to trade with russia or assist russia’s military industry.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski believes that despite russia’s public “efforts” to demonstrate its participation in peace talks, the kremlin has not actually given up its maximalist goals in Ukraine.

Indian oil refineries plan to reduce their purchases of russian oil by about 20 % in the coming weeks.

South Africa’s authorities have warned young women against traveling to russia, where they are lured to assemble combat drones.

The Ministry of Finance of the rf has prepared amendments to the russian criminal code regarding the transfer of capital abroad. In particular, fines for transferring funds to non-resident accounts using documents containing false information about the grounds, aims, and destination of the transfer will be increased to equal the amount of the transferred funds.

The Ministry of Healthcare of the rf plans to limit free education in medical universities and colleges by transferring all budget places in basic higher medical education programs to the target category. The Ministry wants to oblige graduates who refuse to work to pay the state three times the cost of their education.

Starting September 1, the rf’s Ministry of Culture will deny distribution certificates to films that are found to “promote” the refusal to have children. Now russia will be able to ban “Harry Potter”, “Sex and the City”, “Game of Thrones”, “House of Cards”, and other films because some of their characters are childless. They will also be removed from social media and online cinemas. At the same time, at the insistence of the Russian Orthodox Church, a clarification was added to the article: “it will not be a crime to spread information about monasticism and the monastic way of life, adherence to the vow of celibacy and the associated refusal to have children, as well as promoting the attractiveness of such a way of life”.

Members of the state duma have proposed reporting to the Ministry of Internal Affairs about migrants who received emergency medical care without insurance.

In St. Petersburg, “smart cameras” have been installed to determine the nationality of migrants.

russia’s citizens should replace foreign-made gadgets with domestic equivalents, and the same applies to messengers and operating systems, said deputy chairman of the duma committee for information policy Matveychev.

russian companies’ spending on server equipment and data storage systems increased by 25 % and 19 % in 2024, having reached 284 billion rubles and 145.5 billion rubles, respectively. Despite the increase in spending, the number of units sold decreased by 4 % in both areas.

It has become more difficult and expensive for russian businesses to defend themselves against cyberattacks. From January 2024 to June 2025, more than 2,800 successful cyberattacks using malicious software were carried out against russian companies. In the first half of 2025, there were 888 successful intrusions using such software. In the first half of 2025, the sectors most frequently targeted were industry (165 successful attacks), the public sector (137 attacks), and IT (52 attacks).

The moscow exchange has reported a 22.8 % decrease in net profit for the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

In Kemerovo region, 17 enterprises have already ceased operations due to the crisis in the coal industry. The reasons for this are Western sanctions and falling world prices. Half of those that have closed have been mothballed, and their employees have been reassigned to other enterprises within the holding companies. A total of 151 coal mining and enrichment enterprises operate in the region.

Due to the deterioration of the russian economy, more and more companies are considering reducing their employee costs. While 18 % of organizations decided to save on personnel in the first quarter of 2025, in the second quarter, this figure rose to 30 %. At this, at the end of last year, only 9 % of companies announced their intention to cut personnel costs.

russians will see a 30 % increase in taxi prices due to the taxi fleets’ switching to domestic cars.

The price of potatoes in the rf has jumped from last year’s 30–40 rubles to 80–100 rubles for a kilogram and potato is no longer a “food product for the poor”. Potatoes can still be bought from individuals for 40–50 rubles a kilogram. However, on September 1, a law prohibiting business activities in non-commercial gardening associations will come into force, according to which the sale of surplus fruit and vegetable crops will be prohibited. The fine will range from 10,000 to 25,000 rubles.

russians need to start saving for retirement on their own from the age of 35-40, as the state cannot provide decent pension payments, said member of the moscow regional duma Nikitin.

At the end of last year, russia saw an increase in the number of sexually transmitted infections: by 22 % among teenagers and by 33 % among children under 14. In Primorsky Krai, the increase was already 50 % in the first half of this year.

In Zabaykalsky Krai, which experienced large-scale natural fires and faced a petrol shortage amid the fuel crisis, mobile internet was also shut down.

A Polish soldier was wounded in an incident involving illegal migrants on the border with belarus.

For 10 months in a row, belarus’ foreign trade balance has remained negative. In six months, the deficit amounted to $928.2 million, which is the highest figure this year.

russia accounts for almost 70 % of belarusian exports of goods and services.

The losses of the belarusian republican union of consumer societies, which is engaged in trade in rural areas of the rb, have exceeded $11 million. At this, the salaries of Belkoopsoyuz’s management are higher than those of most of the country’s ministers.

In July, the number of people employed in the belarusian economy declined again. Thus, 4.148 million people were employed, which is by 1,700 fewer than in June.