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

“putin doesn't want peace, russia’s reply to diplomacy is more missiles and destruction. This deadly pattern of recurring major russian strikes will repeat itself until we help Ukraine break it,” said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, who considers russia’s use of the “oreshnik” medium-range ballistic missile an escalation in the war against Ukraine. She called on EU countries to “dig deeper into their air defence stocks” and immediately deliver them to Ukraine, as well as to impose tougher sanctions against russia.

“While Ukraine, the USA, and European states are making every effort to end russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and achieve a just and lasting peace, terrorist russia... is spreading fake news about an alleged attack on putin’s residence to justify genocidal strikes against Ukraine, and then launches dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones at peaceful Ukrainian cities and civilians,” – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys believes that the rf’s latest massive attack on Ukrainian cities and the second in history use of the “oreshnik” middle–range ballistic missile against Ukraine demonstrate the kremlin’s attitude to peace talks.

“This act of terror aims to intimidate Ukraine and its partners. The war is approaching Europe and poses a danger to everyone. We stand in solidarity with Ukraine,” President of Moldova Maia Sandu said that russia used an “oreshnik” ballistic missile last night to intimidate Ukraine and its partners.

“To force a change in russia’s course, international political and economic pressure must be maximized and made unbearable,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna commented on the democratic world’s reaction to the rf.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski has said that putin will not be able to achieve his plans to subjugate all of Ukraine. “Looking at the map of russia’s military gains last year – achieved at the cost of tens of thousands, possibly over a hundred thousand, russian soldiers’ lives – it would take decades for putin to conquer Ukraine at this pace. This is the trouble with dictators: once you’ve been in power for 20 years, very few people will tell you the truth. People only bring you the good news,” he said.

“russian airstrikes have left half of Kyiv’s residential buildings without heating. In Finland, as in other countries with harsh winters, we know what severe cold means. It can be a matter of life and death. These strikes are a reminder of russia’s complete disregard for human life,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen.

Following russia’s massive attack, Lithuania’s Ambassador to Ukraine Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė has emphasized that Ukraine’s partners should focus on meeting Kyiv’s needs now, rather than after the ceasefire.

“Romania strongly condemns russia’s recent cowardly attacks on Ukraine, in particular the strikes on Kyiv and Lviv region, which have resulted in civilian casualties, destruction of residential areas, and damage to critical infrastructure. The intended targeting of civilians is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and demonstrates russia’s continued disregard for peace, security, and human life,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Oana Tsui.

“russia has shown again tonight that it has no interest in peace. During the attacks in Kyiv and Lviv, civilians were again killed and wounded,” reads a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria.

“They (the shellings) underscore russia’s intention to continue escalating its war of aggression against Ukraine and demonstrate moscow’s unwillingness to engage in good faith in the process of resolving the conflict through negotiations, despite the efforts of European partners, the United States, and Ukraine to achieve peace,” said Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France Pascal Confavreux.

Sweden has donated to Ukraine a total of 26 modern Archer self-propelled howitzers and spare barrels for them.

Ukraine and the United Kingdom have signed a roadmap for the development of a century-long partnership in the defense sector.

US President Donald Trump has announced his support for a bill to strengthen sanctions against russia.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump. The politicians discussed Euro-Atlantic security. Following the conversation, they agreed on the need to contain russia in the Far North, where it is “showing aggression”.

Trade with China, which has been a “lifeline” for russia’s economy during the sanctions era, began to decline in 2025 for the first time since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. In January-November, China reduced its purchases of russian oil by 7.6% to 91.5 million tons, while in monetary terms, exports fell by 20% due to falling prices and discounts. China’s imports of petroleum products fell by 3% for light distillates and by 33% – for heavy distillates. At this, in monetary terms, supplies collapsed by 33% and 40%, respectively. Coal exports to China fell by 11% in physical terms and by 29% – in monetary terms. Wood supplies decreased by 10% and 8.7%, respectively. Purchases of ferrous metals plummeted by 63%. Although LNG exports to China increased by 12% in physical terms, they decreased by 1.8% in monetary terms.

At this, for the first time since the start of the full-scale war, Chinese goods imports to russia began to decline – by 11.8% to $91.7 billion in January–November. Car imports from China halved, while imports of other categories of machinery and equipment decreased by 10%. The share of the russian market in Chinese exports, for example, fell from 3.2% to 2.7%, and russia is ninth in the list of major customers for Chinese goods. A 1% reduction in China’s aggregate demand will reduce russia’s GDP by 0.1%. A 30% decline in Chinese and Indian purchases of russian oil will make russia’s economy contract by 1.6%. For russia, China is the largest market for raw materials, primarily oil and gas. For China, russia is a small export market with a share similar to that of Mexico.

The Iraqi government has approved the nationalization of the operator of the “West Qurna-2” oil field, 75% of which is owned by “lukoil”.

In Florence, russian ballerina zakharova’s concert has been canceled due to her support for the rf’’s war against Ukraine.

russians are already preparing for the fact that there will be no easing of the key rate in the near future. The “bank of russia” has announced that in 2026 it may “pause the reduction of the key rate for some time and keep it at the current level”.

Last year, 25 fashion brands ceased operations in russia, and the closure process will continue in 2026. Major players will accelerate the reduction of their networks. Buyers will continue to cut back on spending and move towards “maximum rational consumption”, while clothing retailers have virtually exhausted their reserves.

In the second quarter of 2025, Mellow, Incity, Deseo, Just Clothes, and Ready! Steady! Go! shops ceased operations. In the third quarter, Inspire Girls, Etam, Yollo, Prav.da, and Mudo left the market, and in the fourth quarter, Face Code, Urban Vibes, Mollis, and Luzeen followed suit. Megatop, 16 SNKR, Melcloth, and TRND shops also closed during the year. In addition, the children’s brands Loloclo and Orby ceased operations, while the children’s goods retailer Pelican plans to close all its shops. On December 28, it was announced that two more brands, Pinkpunk and Cosareve, would be closing.

In the rf, prices for construction materials will increase by at least 15% in 2026.

In total, internet shutdowns in rthe rf in 2025 amounted to 37,166 hours and affected virtually the entire population of the country – 146 million people. In terms of the duration of outages, russia was more than three times ahead of its closest pursuers – Pakistan (11,482 hours), Myanmar (9,888 hours), and Equatorial Guinea (8,760 hours). Long outages were also recorded in Iraq (7,685 hours), Tanzania (6,966 hours), and Venezuela (5,952 hours). The damage to the russian economy from shutdowns, mobile internet outages, and slowdowns in resources and social networks is estimated at $11.9 billion per year. This is more than all other countries in the ranking combined ($7.8 billion).

russia has extended the simplified procedure for importing electronic devices, including smartphones and computers, into the country (parallel imports) until the end of 2026. This scheme for circumventing sanctions was launched in 2022 and has been extended every year since then.

russia’s market of portable electronics saw a record decline in 2025: on an annual basis, smartphone sales fell by an average of 20%, and laptop sales – by about 15%. Experts attribute the decline to a decrease in the purchasing power of the population and a reduction in corporate purchases. According to experts’ forecasts, in 2026, prices for gadgets will keep rising, while sales will continue to decline.

Hoteliers complain about staff shortages. More than 90% of hotel owners have reported this problem. The most acute situation is in the housekeeping department. The most sought-after positions are administrators, waiters, and bartenders.

Owners of the new russian LADA Vesta and Granta complain about frequent breakdowns. The reason is unreliable components. The budget injectors installed on the car work unreliably, and the timing belts on the 16-valve versions are noisy and wear out quickly even with low mileage. Many buyers also complain about the throttle system.

In st. petersburg, 2026 will be marked by a decline in offered salaries. The trend will continue due to the end of fierce salary competition.

Residents of kaspiysk in dagestan have been without water and heating for almost a week. In dagestan, disruptions to public infrastructure are a constant occurrence: in mid-December 2025, makhachkala experienced massive water and power outages, which also sparked protests. In makhachkala alone, up to 2,000 complaints about power outages are recorded every day.

In 2025 alone, at least 335 women were convicted for “political activities” in the rb, 27 pensioners included. There are about 500 women on the “extremist list” of the ministry of internal affairs of the rb. Since August 2020, more than 8,000 belarusian women have been subjected to repression and persecution for expressing their views and fighting for civil and political rights. More than 1,800 women have been convicted under criminal law. Among them – young mothers with many children, elderly women, including those with disabilities, lawyers, students, journalists, teachers, doctors, entrepreneurs, and housewives. Some belarusian women received draconian sentences of 10, 15, and even more than 20 years in prison.

At the beginning of 2026, belarus ranked 90th out of 100 in the international Healthcare Index, with 49.6 points out of possible 100. The higher a country’s index, the better its healthcare system. The countries with the worst healthcare systems were Syria, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Iraq, and Morocco. Those countries scored between 35 and 46 points.

About 90% of inbound tourists in belarus are russians, and when it comes to organized tourist groups, this figure is even higher – 97%.

belarus’ economy is in decline, so they are proposing to simplify the process of obtaining citizenship for foreign investors. The proposed changes are aimed at “improving the investment climate and supporting the belarusian economy through foreign investment.”