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

The government of Lithuania has approved four projects aimed at rebuilding Ukraine, which will be financed by the Fund for the Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid. More than EUR 14.5 million has been allocated for the implementation of these projects.

Italy has allocated nearly EUR 900,000 to strengthen cybersecurity in Ternopil region. Italy has also allocated another EUR 100,000 to support the work of the Tallinn Mechanism Project Office in Kyiv.

Germany will soon transfer 33 mobile thermal power plants and new IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine.

A shipment of 76 emergency generators from the EU’s strategic reserves has arrived in Ukraine to restore power supply.

European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius believes that Europe should work with Ukraine in the defense sector. “I will go on a ‘missile tour’, ask the industry how many missiles can be produced, what the weak points in the supply chains are, and will use this ‘mapping’ of missiles to intensify defense efforts,” Kubilius said. The European Commissioner has also pointed out that the process of transferring a EUR 90 billion loan to Ukraine will begin in the spring.

The government of Canada plans to extend the UNIFIER training mission for Ukrainian military personnel in the near future.

Moldova’s government has extended temporary protection for refugees from Ukraine for another year, until March 1, 2027.

President of Moldova Maia Sandu has called for continued pressure on russia after the rf attacked a passenger train in Kharkiv region.

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France has introduced a notification procedure for entry and transit for russian diplomats who are not accredited in the country.

Latvia is developing a detailed plan to ensure that roads and railways on the eastern border can be closed immediately if necessary.

The government of Lithuania has approved the extension of national sanctions against russian and belarusian citizens until 2028.

India’s government has not given companies instructions to purchase russian oil, but their reduction in imports will continue, said the country’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri.

Official data on price growth – inflation at the end of last year was 5.6% – drastically differ from people’s perceptions. Inflation as perceived by russians was 14.5%. Survey data from businesses and the population indicate a discrepancy between rising inflation expectations and worsening forecasts for future demand in industry and the consumer sector. The rise in prices is largely due to an increase in the tax burden, and further dynamics will depend on demand, which is beginning to weaken. The average expected rate of price increases for the next three months, converted to an annual rate, accelerated to 10.4% after 8.5% in December.

Almost a third of russians (30.1%) cannot save at all. Large expenses – home repairs (39%) and car purchases (19%) – are also being postponed.

The ministry of economic development has proposed making parallel imports, which allow goods to be imported into russia without the consent of the copyright holder, a permanent mechanism.

The agricultural machinery market in russia ended the year 2025 with a sharp decline. Sales of domestic machines on the domestic market fell by 21.1%. Shipments decreased in most categories. The sharpest declines were in balers (36.7%), tractors (31.1%), and combine harvesters (30.9%).

The profitability of crop production in russia fell from 40–50% in 2020 to 15–16% in 2025.

Freight transportation by road in russia rose in price by 12.3% in 2025. At the same time, many carriers were forced to leave the market last year due to rising costs and a sharp decline in profitability. By November 2025, about 6,700 companies were in the process of liquidation or bankruptcy. In January–September last year, businesses returned more than 40,000 units of equipment to leasing operators.

Developers have begun to abandon the construction of new residential buildings in russia’s largest cities. At the end of 2025, the largest reduction in new projects occurred in ufa (35% year-on-year), moscow (29.2%), rostov-on-don (29.6%), and samara (23%).

From 2015 to 2021, the degree of wear and tear of power grids in the rf increased one and a half times, from 40% to 65.4%. At the end of 2024, the average wear and tear across all networks was already 72%. To fix this, they need to upgrade the networks, which would cost about 10 trillion rubles. That’s how much they spent last year on the war against Ukraine.

The market price of petrol in russia went up by almost 2%, while diesel fuel of all brands also showed growth.

“magnit”, one of russia’s leading food retail chains, reported almost zero net profit on revenues of RUB 1.67 trillion in the first half of 2025, with a margin of around 0.01% and net debt rising to RUB 992.3 billion. Due to its high debt burden, the company has effectively lost its dividend appeal, with payments postponed in favor of debt repayment and investments.

The fourth russian airline plane within a week broke down in flight. A Boeing 757 belonging to the russian airline azur air, flying from Nha Trang, Vietnam, to Irkutsk, made an emergency landing in Hanoi. The reason for the emergency landing was the failure of one of the engines.

The commissioning of the “karat” microchip factory in yekaterinburg has been postponed until the end of 2027. Previously, it was planned that the enterprise would be launched by the end of 2026 and would provide 100% of russia’s needs for analog microchips used in missiles, satellites, lasers, 5G communication systems, and unmanned vehicles.

The ministry of internal affairs of the rf has said that the agency is losing employees every day due to resignations, and the staff shortage in some departments reaches 40%.

Employees of “russia’s post” may “quickly quit” due to low salaries and poor working conditions, said speaker of the federation council valentina matviyenko. The company employs more than 200,000 people, and the average salary is 27,000 rubles, which is at the level of the minimum wage. Last year, “russia’s post” employees began to resign en masse due to low salaries. A total of about 40,000 people left the company. As a result, post offices faced a shortage of workers and began to reduce working hours or temporarily close. After the start of a full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, “russia’s post” was sanctioned and faced a sharp drop in both incoming and outgoing international mail. In 2022–2024, the state-owned company incurred a total of 68 billion rubles in net losses.

rosstat has changed its survey methodology for people with disabilities to reduce the number of people who need prosthetics, wheelchairs, and diapers.

“shikimori” – the largest russian-language online encyclopedia of anime and manga – has been blocked in russia.

russians continue to buy esoteric goods for rituals and divination. In 2025, demand for such products increased by 50% year-on-year. Citizens’ interest in wooden stakes has grown sharply – the number of purchases has quadrupled (i.e., by 300%). Demand for glass balls increased by 101%, for voodoo dolls – by 63%, for pendula for dowsing – by 34%, for black candles – by 8%, and for wormwood –2.6 times.

Sales of suburban real estate near st. petersburg fell to their lowest level since 2020. By the end of 2025, 4,800 properties had been sold in the suburban market of st. petersburg and leningrad region – a decrease of 37%.

Only 13 russians were allowed to participate in the Winter Olympics in Italy. Fewer – only six people – competed in tsarist russia.

The General Staff of the Polish Army has published a report on the implementation of the “Eastern Shield” program, which aims to strengthen the border with belarus and russia. Last year, engineering and technical measures were taken on a 60 km section. In particular, a barrier was built on a 10 km section, and for the rapid deployment of counter-mobility measures on a 50 km section, 13 storage sites were created for their storage, and the terrain was prepared for their installation. This year, work is planned on a 200 km section, with barriers to be installed along 20 km, and storage and installation sites for counter-mobility measures to be prepared for the remaining 180 km section. Approximately PLN 500 million (about US$138 million) from Poland’s state budget is planned to be spent on the “Eastern Shield” program for 2026.

moscow will grant the belarusian government a deferral on debts amounting to US$250 million. In total, belarus has to pay about US$8 billion in debts in 2026.

A prison cell simulation has been opened at the minsk state palace for children and youth. Schoolchildren are planned to visit the place on a regular basis.