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

Ukraine will receive EUR 85 million to purchase additional gas through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The government of the Czech Republic has allocated $500,000 for generators for the frontline Dnipropetrovsk region, which are to be purchased and delivered this week.

By the end of April, gas transmission system operators in Ukraine and Poland will increase the guaranteed capacity at the border to 18.4 million cubic meters per day.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has called on EU countries not to limit arms purchases for Ukraine to the “buy European” principle. “The EUR 90 billion loan package will have a dramatic impact on Ukraine’s security... But here I really urge you to ensure flexibility in how these funds can be spent, and not to be overly restrictive on the part of the EU and its ‘buy Ukrainian’ and ‘buy European’ principles,” said Rutte. At the same time, he said that some EU countries have significant stocks of interceptor missiles for air defense systems and could transfer them to Ukraine.

Ambassador of France to Ukraine Gaël Veyssière has assured that our country will be a key topic during France’s presidency of the G7. “We have already decided to invite President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the G7 leaders’ summit, etc. But we also want to remain as focused as possible on the energy sector,” said Veyssière.

Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo believes that China can help end the war in Ukraine by putting pressure on putin.

“This winter, millions of Ukrainians are living in darkness and cold – not because of the weather, but because the kremlin has frozen the civilian population with weapons of war. To break the will of the nation by making life unbearable. For most of us, such suffering is unimaginable. But for Ukrainians, it is everyday life,” said President of Moldova Maia Sandu.

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Having approved a ban on russian gas purchases by EU countries from 2027, the European Commission is preparing similar measures for nuclear fuel. This was announced by representative of the European Commission Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.

A group of 14 European countries has issued an open warning to russian “shadow fleet” tankers in the Baltic and North Seas. The statement says that ships can only sail under the flag of one state and must have valid safety and insurance documents. The signatories emphasized that tankers that do not comply with these requirements will be considered stateless vessels. The signatories include Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The Netherlands and Austria have imposed restrictions on the movement of russian diplomats on their territory. These steps are the implementation of decisions within the 19th package of EU sanctions against russia, adopted in October 2025. Earlier, at the end of September 2025, the Czech Republic imposed an entry ban on russian diplomats and holders of service passports who are not accredited in the country.

“Almost no other EU region is as significantly affected by the kremlin’s hybrid actions. There is no time to hesitate – neither on the issue of protecting critical infrastructure nor on the issue of imposing sanctions against the russian shadow fleet,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Johann Wadephul during a visit to Latvia.

Head of Germany’s Armed Forces Support Command, Lieutenant General Gerald Funke believes that russia may attack NATO countries in the next two to three years, with Germany at the epicenter of events.

Authorities of Denmark have refused to issue a passport on an expedited basis to former russian and European speed skating champion sofia torup (prosvirnova), making it impossible for her to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

“norilsk nickel”’s multi-billion dollar project to build a copper plant in China is on the verge of collapse. The Chinese partner has decided to withdraw from the project, which involved the construction of a plant with a capacity of 500,000 tons of copper per year in the port of Fangchenggang in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Despite statements about a strategic partnership without borders, China sees russian companies as toxic partners. Chinese banks regularly block payments to “norilsk nickel” as soon as each new package of sanctions is issued.

In 2025, russia’s banking system faced the strongest growth in overdue mortgage debt in a decade. By the end of the year, russian citizens had failed to pay banks 276 billion rubles in mortgage loans and interest on time. Over the year, arrears increased by 115.2 billion rubles, or 76.6%.

In 2025, russian banks sharply accelerated the closure of branches across the country. A total of about 1,700 offices were liquidated, which is 3.6 times more than a year earlier.

russian entrepreneurs do not believe in victory over inflation, as shown by  a survey of enterprises conducted by the central bank of the rf. When forming business plans for 2026, monitoring participants assume an average annual inflation rate of 9.3%. This is much higher than the official inflation rate, both current and forecast. rosstat estimated last year’s inflation at 5.6%, while the central bank forecasts 4–5% for this year.

In the first 12 days of 2026, prices in russia rose more than in the whole of January 2025. The far east and dagestan are among the leaders. According to rosstat, consumer prices in russia rose by 1.26% in the first 12 days of January. However, russians see a much stronger increase in prices when calculating their own expenses for their usual shopping list: for some, it has become by 30% more expensive, for others – almost twice as expensive. Please, be reminded, that starting this year, rosstat has again changed its price tracking methodology, changing the list of goods and services it monitors.

Minister of finance of the rf anton siluanov has proposed to putin to legalize online casinos in order to replenish the budget for the war.

russia’s authorities are preparing to introduce a new tax for marketplaces – VAT on imports of large consignments of non-food goods.

In 2025, 14,200 share participation agreements were terminated in russia for a total amount of 155 billion rubles. The share of terminated agreements accounted for 3% of all transactions in new buildings for the year. The number and volume of terminated agreements reached their highest level in the last five years.

russians bought 1.38 million liters of kumis in 2025, which is by 64.75% more than the year before.

In 2025, the number of alcoholic beverages stores in russian cities with over a million people dropped by 7%. The main reason was a decline in demand for premium alcohol brands.

In russia, a significant portion of the military personnel demobilized after participating in the war against Ukraine did not find employment after returning to civilian life. This involves tens of thousands of people, although initial publications by russian state media cited a figure of about 250,000 unemployed demobilized people.

The number of court decisions on the confiscation of property in criminal cases in russia has tripled in recent years.

The fsb will have the right to disconnect russians not only from mobile but also from wired internet, as well as telephone and other communications. Telecommunications operators will carry out the service’s orders. At the same time, they will be exempt from financial liability to customers for such disconnections.

russia plans to partially or completely restrict access to Wikipedia within the next 1–2 years. The authorities explain this by alleged distortions of historical facts about the tsarist, soviet, and modern periods.

An unsatisfactory behavior grade should be grounds for expelling a child from school, said valery fadeev, the head of the human rights council under the president of russia.

The number of applicants to universities under the quota for war veterans in 2025 has doubled compared to the previous year. The scores with which first-year students are admitted to universities under the “cpesial military operation” quota are also lower than those of regular applicants. The largest share of applicants under the quota for war veterans and their children is in the transbaikal territory. There, one in ten first-year students was admitted on this basis. The region has one of the highest mortality rates for men in the war, which may be related to the large number of beneficiaries.

In murmansk region, where a state of emergency has been announced due to massive power outages, the internet has been shut down. This is how the authorities are fighting back against residents of the region who continue to leave angry comments under governor andrey chibis’ statement that stable electricity supply has been restored to 80% of homes. Besides, bots are actively working in the comments about the power outages: they blame magnetic storms for the collapse of power lines, report on the return of electricity and heating, and rack up likes under the right posts. Please, be reminded that on Friday, five ETLs collapsed in the region, two of which had been in operation since 1966, leading to a blackout in murmansk and severomorsk. In addition, murmansk energy companies invented a new phrase to hide the scale of the accident – not a power outage, but “electricity rotation”.

belarus is currently russia’s junior partner, but negotiations are necessary on the issue of releasing political prisoners, said President of Poland Karol Nawrocki.

belarus, like russia, is dependent on China. The rb has financed 28 industrial projects with Chinese loans worth $5.5 billion. These are preferential and commercial loans raised over 20 years.

A number of large russian factories have been forced to limit their cheese production due to the influx of cheaper belarusian products. One of the key reasons for the price advantage of belarusian producers is the lower cost of raw materials – the difference is about 20%, which is approximately the same as the difference in the price of finished products. An additional factor contributing to dumping is the fact that some of the products supplied are close to their critical sale date.