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

“We all want this war to end as soon as possible. But Ukraine must preserve its territory and its security interests,” said Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz. The Chancellor said that he and US President Donald Trump agreed during their meeting at the White House on the need to end russia’s war against Ukraine as soon as possible. To this end, Friedrich Merz asked his colleague to increase pressure on putin. At the same time, the Chancellor stressed that a peace agreement must necessarily involve the European side.

“We believe that peace negotiations, though not very soon, will lead to the end of the war in Ukraine,” – President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda expressed confidence that the war unleashed by russia against Ukraine will ultimately be ended through peace talks.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Johann Wadephul demands an immediate end to Hungary’s blockade of already approved new EU aid to Ukraine. “We can no longer allow unacceptable blockades, such as the one currently being imposed by Hungary, which delay this urgently needed aid and thus cost human lives due to a lack of important resources for national defense,” the Minister said.

More than US$8 billion, including transfers through official channels (banks, international money transfer systems, post offices) and unofficial channels (hand-to-hand transfers), was transferred to Ukraine from all over the world in 2025.

Kherson has received humanitarian aid from the community of the Danish city of Silkeborg, which raised nearly 2.5 million Danish kroner for generators and charging stations.

British singer Sting made a public appeal calling on russia to release Ukrainian musicians who have been held captive for two and a half years.

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German intelligence (BND): rf hides the real costs of the war in Ukraine; russia’s budget deficit in 2025 will be by 2.36 trillion rubles ($30.45 billion) higher than officially stated. russia’s economy is in the red: sanctions are having an effect, the deficit is growing significantly, and the location of investments is becoming an unpredictable risk. At the beginning of the fifth year of the russian-Ukrainian war, almost all sectors of the rf’s economy are showing negative growth.

The government of Lithuania has approved amendments to laws proposed by the Ministry of Justice that criminalize participation in armed conflicts abroad on the side of an enemy state, in the activities of foreign intelligence or security agencies, and in sabotage directed against national security.

Polish television company Telewizja Polska (TVP) has announced that it will not show russian and belarusian athletes during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympic Games as part of a boycott, expressing its disagreement with the International Paralympic Committee’s decision to allow them to compete under their national flags. When russian and belarusian athletes appear at the opening ceremony of the 2026 Paralympics, the broadcast will be interrupted by the Polish broadcaster, and a screen saver will appear on the channel with the inscription: “Solidarity with Ukraine. TVP Sport is against the participation of russian and belarusian athletes in the competition”.

The German Disabled Sports Association has announced that its para-athletes will not participate in the parade of nations during the opening ceremony of the Paralympics due to the admission of representatives of the rf and the rb to the competition, as well as in solidarity with the Ukrainian delegation. Earlier, nine other countries announced their decision to boycott the opening ceremony. Among those who made this decision are Canada, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Croatia, and the Czech Republic.

“The International Paralympic Committee’s terrible decision to ban Ukraine from participating under its internationally recognized map, while russia, the aggressor waging a brutal war of destruction, is allowed to compete under its flag”, said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna about the upcoming 2026 Paralympics.

Apple has begun restricting access to a number of services in their Apple ID accounts for russian citizens. This applies to russians whose data partially or completely match those of people who have been subject to Western sanctions.

In February 2026, russia’s business activity index in the service sector fell to 51.3 points from 53.1 points in January. The composite index, which combines indicators for the service sector and manufacturing, fell to 50.8 points.

In the rf, state support for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) has been sharply reduced. Last year, the number of SMEs and self-employed individuals covered by all types of support was 436,700, which is by 20% fewer than in 2024. The number of recipients of financial support decreased by 16%. The amount of support decreased even more. Over the year, it fell by 33.1%. And the average amount of support was cut by a quarter: from 4 million rubles in 2024 to 3 million. The smaller the business, the more often state support was reduced. The number of recipients decreased by 21.9% among micro-enterprises, by 18.2% – among small enterprises, and by 9.5% – among medium-sized enterprises.

Sales of taxi cars in the rf in January fell by almost 40% in monetary terms compared to the same period last year.

In January–February 2026, only 41 new Chery cars were imported into russia, which is 100 times fewer than in the same period last year.

Loading on the far eastern railway in January–February decreased by 1.5% compared to the same period last year. Freight turnover for the reporting month decreased by 2%. There was a decline in the transportation of forest products (by 8.3%) and oil and oil products (by 2.2%).

Aeroflot’s adjusted net profit fell by 65% in 2025. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the adjusted net loss amounted to 2.8 billion rubles, compared to the profit of 10.3 billion rubles a year earlier.

Azur Air, russia’s largest charter airline, is once again experiencing problems with its planes, the average age of which exceeds 28 years, due to wear and tear caused by sanctions and a shortage of spare parts. After three engine failures in January and February, two new incidents have occurred this week.

The University of California, Berkeley, has become “undesirable” in russia. Founded in 1868, the university ranks sixth in the world’s best universities. It has produced 117 Nobel Prize winners.

“There is a huge turnover of personnel in the ministry of internal affairs of the rf,” said the head of the department, vladimir kolokoltsev. According to him, 350,000 people have left the structures of the ministry of internal affairs since 2020. There are police departments in russia where several units have been disbanded due to a lack of personnel. Separately, the head of the ministry of internal affairs emphasized the shortage of district police officers in the country (25%). The patrol – post service is 40% understaffed. “There are no patrols on the streets,” the minister stressed.

Participants in the war against Ukraine must be actively involved in the ministry of internal affairs. putin made this statement. “One of the most important options for replenishing personnel is to recruit veterans of the ‘special military operation’ with their psychological and physical toughness,” he said. Please, be reminded that during the four years of war with Ukraine, veterans of the “special military operation” who returned from the front killed and maimed at least 1,000 russians.

In 2025, 43,241 corruption-related crimes were registered in russia. Over the year, the number of corruption crimes increased by 12%.

Juvenile crime also increased in russia. The share of serious and especially serious crimes among such crimes exceeded 40%.

There are currently 308,000 citizens being held in russian detention centers and prisons. This is a historic low. The authorities cynically explain the decrease in the number of prisoners as the result of a “course towards the humanization of legislation and law enforcement practices”. In reality, the main reason is the constant need to replenish the losses of the occupying army for the war against Ukraine.

Against the background of a record budget deficit in the regions, mayor of moscow sergei sobyanin has decided to reduce the number of civil servants in the city’s executive bodies by 15%, as well as employees of certain subordinate institutions that perform administrative functions (approximately 3,000 employees). Besides, the city authorities plan to cut spending on moscow’s investment program for 2026 by 10%.

st. petersburg’s planned budget for 2026 was executed in two months with a deficit of 6.6 billion rubles.

st. petersburg has banned the sale of petrol to minors in order to “reduce the risk of combustible materials being used for destructive purposes”.

In voronezh region, the roof of a new school, built in 2024 at a cost of one billion rubles, collapsed. The authorities called the accident “a sagging of the building’s roof span”.

Poland has extended its flight ban on the border with belarus for three months.

From 2020 to early February 2026, at least 2,012 NGOs – associations, trade unions, foundations, non-governmental institutions, and associations – were liquidated in belarus.