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

Through the Targeted Fund Program for support, recovery, reconstruction, and reform of Ukraine (URTF) program, the World Bank mobilized over $2.8 billion in donor contributions for our country in 2025.

The Government of the United Kingdom will make an additional contribution of 250,000 pounds sterling to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Fund.

The EU will allocate additional EUR 250,000 to support Ukrainian culture.

Ukraine has received 40 generators and modern heavy equipment from the US government to support irrigation systems in frontline and arid regions of the country.

At the EU conference, Ukraine presented a plan for the energy resilience of regions and municipalities, focusing on the protection of critical infrastructure and energy, water, and heat supply, with a total cost of EUR 5.4 billion.

The European Union’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova has called russia’s latest massive attack against Ukraine on March 24 “another brutal night of fear and loss”.

“Europe has much to learn and must work together with Ukraine to strengthen our defense capabilities,” said European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius.

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Estonia has officially signed a document confirming the country’s joining the Enlarged Partial Agreement on the Steering Committee of the Special Tribunal to investigate russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine.

President of Moldova Maia Sandu has blamed russia for disrupting the country’s energy connection with Europe, which led to instability in the Republic’s power grid. She also announced that Moldova is ready to join the Coalition of the Willing.

The Czech Republic does not align itself with russia, does not consult with moscow, and does not visit the rf. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Karel Havlíček. “We do not travel to russia, we do not support putin, we have never negotiated with him… No moscow, no putin – and I would say that we are clear and unequivocal about this,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Imports of russian unprocessed aluminum to European Union countries in January 2026 fell 19.5 times year-on-year.

For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, the kremlin is selling off physical gold from the central bank’s reserves to cover the federal budget deficit, which totaled over 15 trillion rubles for the 2022–2025 period. In January, the central bank of the rf sold 300,000 ounces of physical gold from its reserves, and another 200,000 – in February.

Pessimism is growing in russia’s industry. The composite industrial optimism index, calculated based on companies’ assessments of current conditions, continued to decline in March, falling to -20 points. In the more than three decades that the survey has been conducted in russia, the index has fallen below this level only three times: at the peak of the pandemic in 2020, during the global financial crisis of 2008, and in the 1990s, when the economy was in chaos following the collapse of the ussr.

Following the tax reform, 73% of russian entrepreneurs reported a decline in business profitability, while another 42% noted an increase in the shadow economy within their industries. 5% of respondents reported having effectively ceased operations. Another 7% have begun to downsize their businesses, and 21% are considering doing so. At this, 41% of respondents consider the tax burden excessive. The effects of the reform are most noticeable in the retail trade, consumer services, food service, and service industries.

The state of russian small business is deteriorating due to the declining demand, falling profitability, and rising tax burden. By the end of 2025, nearly 45% of small and medium-sized enterprises had incurred losses or failed to turn a profit. At the start of 2026, 68.7% of entrepreneurs reported a drop in revenue. Nearly every fifth (18.2%) estimates the chances of continuing operations at 30% or less.

In 2025, russian companies could not implement 90% of projects related to the use of artificial intelligence.

The heavy truck market in the rf fell by 40% in the first two months of the year.

Starting June 1, 2026, kamaz – russia’s largest truck manufacturer – is reintroducing a four-day workweek.

The russian office software developer “new cloud technologies” (brand “moyoffice”) has announced large-scale layoffs amid billions in losses. The company’s flagship project is an import substitute for Microsoft Office (email, Word, Excel, etc.).

russia’s authorities have decided to tighten control over money transfers between russians for tax collection purposes.

The number of personal bankruptcies is rising in the rf. In 2025, 636,000 people filed for bankruptcy – by 31% more than in 2024. Each month, approximately 67 billion rubles in debt was written off for russians.

In the first nine months of 2025, 12,900 residential properties – flats and houses belonging to russians undergoing bankruptcy proceedings – were put up for auction. On average, an auction was announced every 50 minutes.

Against the background of a labor shortage, groups of migrant workers from Sri Lanka began arriving in russia. However, difficulties have already arisen – in pskov region, Sri Lankans who had started working began experiencing delays in their wage payments.

In perm, the police force is 33% understaffed. Local officials have proposed immediately sending police officers who wish to resign to the front lines.

Demand for real estate in resort towns in the krasnodar territory has fallen by about a third. The number of transactions in the primary market in Sochi in January–February fell by 29.2% year-over-year, and in Anapa – by 38.5%.

The government of russia is discussing the possibility of introducing an age restriction on children’s use of mobile phones. This was stated by minister of education of the rf sergey kravtsov.

Chairman of the federation council’s committee on budget and financial markets anatoly artamonov has proposed closing homes for elderly people to optimize budget expenditures.

“russia needs to return to a socialist path of development in order to increase the birth rate,” said member of the state duma anzhelika glazkova.

“Lithuania sees no grounds for rapprochement with belarus and continues to adhere to its sanctions policy,” said Member of the European Parliament Petras Auštrevičius.