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

“Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace,” said King Charles III of the United Kingdom.

The International Register of Damage for Ukraine, caused by russia’s aggression, has opened two new categories for accepting applications: for the forced displacement or deportation of children and adults.

“In light of russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine and following the repeated violation of the airspace of our Member States by russian UAVs, an exercise such as “Zapad-2025” does not demonstrate a commitment to de-escalation and peace,” said the EU Council press service.

Ukraine and Poland will establish a joint operational group for unmanned aircraft systems.

Australia is lowering the price cap on russian oil from $60 to $47.60 for a barrel. The country’s government has also imposed sanctions on another 95 vessels belonging to russia’s “shadow fleet”. The country is taking these measures together with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Japan. It also maintains a complete ban on imports of oil and petroleum products from russia. In total, from June 2025, the country’s Government has already legalized restrictions against more than 150 ships.

American oil giant Exxon Mobil does not plan to resume operations in russia and is demanding compensation from the rf for lost assets amounting to US$4.6 billion.

Minister of Energy of Poland Miłosz Motyka has called on the EU to stop importing russian oil by the end of 2026 “to stop financing russia’s military machine”.

The government of Estonia has decided to impose a complete ban on natural gas imports from russia starting next year.

Lithuanian electricity transmission operator Litgrid has announced the complete dismantling of sections of cross-border power lines connecting Lithuania with russia’s Kaliningrad region.

Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, the government of the rf is looking for ways to make ends meet, choosing between “bad” and “very bad” options. And the only viable option remains another tax increase, despite putin’s assurances to the contrary. The authorities have already begun to look for additional sources of replenishment for the federal budget after a sharp increase in the deficit, which amounted to 4.19 trillion rubles in the first eight months of 2025, compared to the planned 1.1 trillion. The tax increase will start with banks: a draft law has been submitted to the state duma on a one-time tax on the excess profits of credit organizations in the amount of 10 %.

Average daily sea exports of crude oil from russia fell last week by 934,000 barrels to 3.18 million, or by 22.7 %. Revenues from its sale decreased by the same amount, resulting in russia’s loss of nearly $400 million.

From September 9 to 15, prices for tomatoes in russia rose by 6.4 %, and for bananas – by 1.2 %. This is a significant acceleration compared to the previous week, when tomatoes rose in price by 2.8 % and bananas – by 0.2 %. Since the beginning of the year, apples have been the leaders in price growth, having risen in price by 14 %.

If the current rate of growth in consumer bankruptcies continues, by 2029 the number of russian citizens declared bankrupt (in court and out of court) could reach 1.8 million people.

russia is in the second third of the list of countries in terms of innovation, behind not only Western and highly developed countries, but also many Asian, Middle Eastern, and five former soviet republics. And moscow, where the main high-tech and innovative companies and research centers are concentrated, has found itself at the bottom of the innovation intensity ranking, even behind Tehran. russia ranks 60th out of 139 countries in the innovation development ranking. Its score (30.3 points) is half that of the leader, Switzerland (66). russia has been overtaken by Armenia and Georgia (59th and 56th, respectively), Serbia and Cyprus (54th and 25th), Vietnam (44th), the UAE (30th), and all BRIC countries.

The government of the rf is discussing raising the value-added tax (VAT) to 22 % from the current 20 %. The VAT increase is aimed at reducing the budget deficit and maintaining fiscal rule.

The export of gold bullion by individuals will be limited to 100 grams. “We see that capital is currently flowing out through gold,” said deputy minister of finance of the rf Aleksey Moiseev.

The current pace of replacing outdated lifts in russia is extremely slow. To eliminate the accumulated deficit by 2029, up to 30,000 units of equipment need to be replaced annually, but in January-August 2025, only 9,300 lifts were purchased, which is by 19 % fewer than a year earlier. The main reason is a lack of funding. Replacing 110,000 units of equipment that have reached the end of their service life will require 436 billion rubles. Without accelerating the programs, the proportion of outdated lifts will grow, increasing the risk of accidents.

In russia, 13 regions are in the “red zone” in terms of the housing overhaul program.

“Lada” car production in russia will decrease by 25 % in 2025 to 300,000 units, including the production of “Lada Iskra” at the St. Petersburg car plant, – said president of AvtoVAZ Maksim Sokolov.

The age of workers in blue-collar professions has increased in russia. In 2024, the average age of a building maintenance engineer, property manager, and construction and installation worker was 50–52 years, with store administrators closer to 50 years of age. This figure has increased by 1–3 points over the year. College graduates do not meet the needs of the labor market: from January 2024 to January 2025, the demand for specialists in priority areas of the economy increased. In industry, it increased by 19 %, in construction – by 17 %.

The russian agro-industrial complex loses about 150,000 workers annually, in particular due to the low quality of life in rural areas. The agro-industrial complex is losing the competitive struggle for personnel, whose average age in the industry exceeds 50 years, to other sectors.

In 2024–2031, the country’s GDP losses due to the premature death of working-age patients with arrhythmia could amount to 4 trillion rubles. Doctors say that arrhythmia is not only a medical problem but also a socio-economic one that requires a systemic approach: timely diagnosis and access to modern treatment methods.

In russia, it is becoming normal to sell expired food products. Every month, more than 18,000 violators of expiration date regulations are identified in the rf.

russia, whose population is naturally declining by half a million people per year, intends to further tighten its migration policy. “We will approach migration according to the principle of ‘come, earn, leave’,” announced minister of economic development Maksim Reshetnikov.

The ministry of emergency situations of the rf plans to amend civil defense regulations and effectively exclude any peacetime scenarios from the system. This means that the entire civil defense system – from preparing the population to creating food and medical supplies – will now operate exclusively in case of war, rather than as before – in the event of earthquakes, floods, or accidents.

For the first time in at least five years, the decline in the coverage of russian television channels has stopped in russia against the background of the de facto blocking of YouTube. According to the results of June-August this year, the coverage of all television broadcasting in the country among the population over 4 years of age reached 59 % compared to 58.7 % year-on-year.

The VK holding company, responsible for developing the state-sponsored Max messenger app, has become the leader among russia’s largest companies with serious loan servicing problems. In particular, over the past three years, VK’s net debt has tripled, from 51 billion to 147.3 billion rubles, despite the government support and blocking of competitors’ services developed by the holding company. According to its official report, the company ended 2024 with a record loss of 95 billion rubles.

St. Petersburg residents’ spending on medicines is the highest in russia. On average, it amounted to 9,600 rubles per month this year. Over the year, this figure has increased by more than 1,000 rubles (+14 %).

Lukoil has removed petrol from the “Amber Benefit” promotion, which was available to residents of Kaliningrad region. The removal was explained by the “need to ensure the economic stability of filling stations”.

The manager of the russian portal MangaLIB was fined 200,000 rubles for publishing the Japanese comic book “The Girl Who Married the Big Snake”. The judge explained that “relationships between humans and mythological creatures” fall under the definition of “non-traditional” because the law treats all sexual relationships that go beyond the relationship between a man and a woman as such.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys does not believe that the USA’s decision to lift sanctions on the belarusian state airline “Belavia” will encourage the EU to soften its tone towards Minsk. As Budrys pointed out, the European Union’s position on Belarus is moving in a different direction. “In the EU, sanctions are moving in the opposite direction – sanctions packages are expanding, and Lithuania seeks to synchronize sanctions against belarus with sanctions against russia in all cases. We will discuss additional sanctions packages due to aggression against Ukraine, hybrid actions, and crimes committed in Ukraine,” he said.

Poland has completed the construction of an electronic fence on the border with belarus, which operates along the entire 400-kilometer section of the state border with belarus.

The closure of Poland’s border with belarus has led to a 90 % halt in rail shipments from China to the EU.

Since January 18, there have been nine waves of pardons for political prisoners in belarus, during which 170 people were released. During this time, 283 people have been granted political prisoner status. These are people from different regions of belarus, of different ages and social status, who are accused under a number of political articles.