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

Sweden is transferring to Ukraine the 20th package of military aid worth $982 million, which includes 18 Archer guns and artillery ammunition, long-range drones; procurement of coastal radar systems and supply vessels; procurement of ammunition, sensors and command and control systems for the already transferred Swedish Tridon air defense system, equipment for air base operations and sensors for detecting drones and robots; investments in civil defense, services through the Swedish Defense Research Agency and the Swedish Defense University.

Minister of Defence of Sweden Pål Jonson has said that his country will allocate another 70 billion kronor (about $7.47 billion) over the next two years for military support to Ukraine.

The US House of Representatives has approved the country’s defense budget, which includes $400 million for Ukraine.

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania have issued a joint statement amid russian drones’ violation of airspace of Poland on the night of September 10, emphasizing that only joint coordinated actions can guarantee the safety of citizens.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has announced plans to support Ukraine even more actively and to strengthen sanctions against the rf.

Google has announced $1.5 million in funding to support the Ukrainian educational project “Mriya”.

British Prince Harry’s Foundation will donate $500,000 to projects to develop prosthetics and provide other assistance to children, including those from Ukraine.

“The Government of Denmark consistently supports the recovery of Ukraine’s economy. In particular, we understand the need to ensure affordable and safe housing in Odessa. We express our interest in seeing more such projects,” said representative of the Danish office of Vaekstkapital Group Anders Johansson, emphasizing that his country would help build housing for IDPs in Odesa.

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A bill to restore the Jackson-Vanik amendment on russia, which would end “all trade” between Washington and moscow, has been introduced in the US Congress, said the author of the initiative, House member Joe Wilson.

The European Commission is considering including a number of independent Chinese oil refineries in the 19th package of sanctions against russia.

The EU Court of General Jurisdiction dismissed businessman Roman Abramovich’s lawsuit to lift the sanctions imposed on him in 2022. The decision states that the measures were taken lawfully and comply with European and international law.

India has demanded an increase in discounts on russian oil to $10 per barrel due to new sanctions.

Leader of the Republican majority in the US Senate, John Thune, has emphasized that in view of the recent events with russian drones in Poland, there is “increased interest” in adopting legislation on sanctions against russia.

Following the massive violation of Polish airspace by russian drones, Sweden will urgently send additional air defense equipment and aircraft to Poland.

“This is a very serious threat to peace in Europe,” Federal Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz believes that russia deliberately provoked NATO by violating Polish airspace with drones.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski hopes that NATO’s response to the violation of Polish airspace by russian drones will stop putin from further escalation.

Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney called the intrusion of russian drones into Polish airspace “reckless and escalatory”.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway Espen Barth Eide believes that the violation of Polish airspace could be russia’s attempt to test NATO “in a very tense situation”.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy Antonio Tajani has said that new sanctions should be imposed to put pressure on putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

Revenues from russian oil exports in August decreased by 6.4 % (by $0.92 billion) to $13.51 billion compared to July, which is by 8.5 % less than during the same period last year. According to experts, russia’s revenues from supplies remain at five-year lows.

August 2025 brought the russian economy the lowest revenues from exporting raw materials abroad since the beginning of the war. On average, russia earned  EUR 564 million a day from exporting oil, gas, petroleum products, and coal, which is by 2 % less than in July, and by 11 % less than in August last year. Compared to the peak in 2022, when fossil fuel exports brought in EUR 1 billion or more a day, commodity revenue flows have halved, and compared to the levels of 2024 – they decreased by about a quarter.

The positive foreign trade balance of the rf in January-July 2025 decreased by 14.1 % compared to January–July 2024 and amounted to $77.2 billion (against $89.9 billion earlier).

The government’s list of measures to support steelmakers, proposed by the ministry of economy and the ministry of industry and trade, includes a moratorium on bankruptcy for steelmaking companies. The initiative is aimed primarily at the coal giant Mechel, owned by Igor Zyuzin. The company’s debt exceeds RUB 250 billion, and in the first half of 2025, the company’s net loss increased by 143 % year-on-year to RUB 40.5 billion, the highest since 2015. A moratorium on bankruptcy may also be necessary for PMH: the holding's parent company posted a net loss of RUB 9.79 billion in the first half of 2025, which is five times more than a year ago. The company’s debt by June 30 almost doubled year-on-year to RUB 76.08 billion.

russian citizens are increasingly saving on basic everyday goods due to the rapid rise in prices, which, even according to official data, has reached 40 % since the start of the full-scale war. The number of clothing purchases in January-August 2025 decreased by 8 %. Due to the decline in demand, large fashion retailers will be forced to optimize up to 40 % of their retail space. To save money on food, consumers are increasingly turning to hard discounters that sell the cheapest products with maximum discounts. Revenue from such stores grew by 27 % year-on-year, a record among all grocery retailers.

The sharp rise in butter prices has led to a drop in sales: in January–July 2025, by 14.7 % less product in physical terms was sold in the rf than a year earlier.

Prices for telecommunication services in russia in August 2025 increased by 8.66 % compared to the same period last year.

The government of the rf has approved a list of neighboring countries with favorable conditions for russian tourists. It includes only Abkhazia, belarus and South Ossetia.

Chair of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the rf Valentyna Matvienko has proposed to create “men's consultations” similar to women’s consultations to increase the birth rate.

Minister of labour of the rf Anton Kotyakov has acknowledged that high family debt is becoming an obstacle to increasing the birth rate.

According to the results of seven months of 2025, the average cost of the initial course of study at a driving school rose by 20.2 % compared to the same period last year.

Clergymen in russia who oppose the war unleashed by russia are subject to constant repression. By May 2025, at least 79 priests of the russian orthodox church had been subjected to church sanctions.

Employees of AvtoVAZ have been banned from using WhatsApp due to fears of technology theft by Americans.

During the week of September 2–8, petrol prices rose in 71 regions of the rf, with the largest increases in the republics of Ingushetia – by 6.1 % and Dagestan – by 3.3 %. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, the price increase during that period was 0.3 %.

In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), a critical situation has arisen with the start of the heating season due to insufficient funding for the utilities sector. The problems affect almost all districts of the region. The most difficult situation is in Verkhnekolymsky ulus, where snow fell on September 9.

The Bratsk City Court of Irkutsk region has ruled to block the page of the “Apocalypse Wiki” website with instructions on how to survive a global catastrophe.

President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda has said that lukashenko’s regime released 52 political prisoners, all of whom have already crossed the belarusian border and are in Lithuania. He has thanked US President Donald Trump for his assistance in releasing the prisoners from belarus. “However, there are still more than 1,000 political prisoners in belarusian prisons, and we cannot stop until they are released,” Nausėda emphasized. In return, the US lifted sanctions on the belarusian state airline “Belavia”.

Washington’s lifting of sanctions against “Belavia” does not mean that foreign carriers – European and American – will automatically return flights to belarus. The EU and UK sanctions remain in place. At this, American airlines did not operate flights to belarus before 2021, nor did the national carrier in the opposite direction. “Belavia”, for its part, will not be able to send its airliners to the EU after Washington lifts the restrictions – European restrictions are still in effect.

Authorities of Latvia followed Poland in announcing the closure of the airspace on the eastern border at least until September 18, with the possibility of extension. The decision to close the airspace near the eastern border with belarus and russia was made after an assessment by the country’s National Armed Forces.

The Latvian Saeima has also submitted to the National Security Commission a draft decision to completely close Latvia’s border with russia and belarus during the” Zapad” military exercise.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski has reiterated his call for Polish citizens not to travel to belarus or russia to avoid becoming hostages in their political games.

According to Minister of the Interior and Administration of Poland Marcin Kierwiński, the decision to close the border with belarus was made not only for the duration of the “Zapad–2025” exercise.

Poland’s closure of the border with belarus will completely paralyze passenger and cargo traffic in the most important western direction for belarus. Checkpoints and border terminals on the territory of Poland are the entrance and exit for more than 80 % of the volume of goods in transit, for export and for the domestic market of belarus in its transport communications with the European Union.

belarus is already experiencing Poland’s response to the detention of monk Grzegorz Gawel on suspicion of espionage. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Marcin Bosacki. He called the detention of the clergyman a provocation.

lukashenko’s propagandists have voiced the regime’s position: “no one is holding belarusians who want to go abroad,” but they should take into account “geopolitical reality” and not count on state assistance in force majeure situations.

Students in Gomel must sign a statement that they will check their social networks for subscriptions to “extremist” resources.