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

The Ukraine Energy Support Fund is ready to reallocate over EUR 195 million in donor funds to meet the most urgent needs for winter preparations.

A group of MEPs has appealed to President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, calling on her to take measures to prevent confidential information from reaching russia. “Pro-russian MEPs with ties to the putin regime can still participate in closed committee meetings and hire staff without undergoing proper screening... This allows them to gather confidential information, including details regarding our military and financial support for Ukraine, and pass it on to the russian side,” the MEPs warned.

Chief of the Defence Staff of the Armed Forces of France Fabien Mandon has stated that a full-scale war with russia is his top priority in terms of the country’s military readiness.

France plans to double prison terms and fines for owners and operators of ships sailing under false flags or refusing to comply with orders to stop. The increased penalties are aimed at strengthening the fight against russia’s “shadow fleet”.

The UK government has warned russia of “serious consequences” if moscow continues to threaten British underwater infrastructure  in the Atlantic Ocean.

70% of respondents in Poland, Spain, Belgium, France, Germany and Italy view russia as a threat.

“They (the kremlin) want to destroy Ukraine first, and then move on to restore the soviet union. It all started with belarus, and now they’re trying to swallow up Ukraine. They can’t restore the soviet union without Ukraine… If we lose Ukraine, it will be the end for Europe,” said Commander of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union Colonel Linas Idzelis.

The Parliament of Moldova is considering a draft of new regulations proposing to retain Romanian as the sole official working language of the legislative body. Thanks to this change, the Moldovan Parliament will no longer be required to translate draft laws into russian.

russia’s federal budget for January–March closed with a deficit of 4.576 trillion rubles. With revenues of 8.309 trillion rubles, the government spent 1.5 times more – 12.885 trillion rubles. As a result, every third ruble of expenditures in the budget was not backed by tax revenue, and the “hole” in the treasury increased by 133% compared to the same period last year and exceeded the plan for the entire year by 700 billion rubles.

In the first week of April, russian oil exports via Baltic ports fell to an annual low, having decreased by 33.2%.

Annual inflation in russia accelerated to 5.95% during the period from March 31 to April 6.

deputy prime minister marat khusnullin has pointed out the non-existence of investment programs in 80% of housing and utilities enterprises and the unprofitability of 30% of such organizations. At the same time, he estimated the population’s accounts receivable for utility services at 700 billion rubles. Meanwhile, against the background of the difficult economic situation caused by the war with Ukraine, local authorities are, on the contrary, cutting spending on housing and utilities. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 64 out of 83 russian regions have cut budget spending on these purposes at least once. This year, budget cuts are planned in 15 regions. This involves cutting the relevant budget lines by 10% or more, and taking inflation into account (averaging 8.6% per year), the real decline will be even more significant.

russia will be hit by a wave of bankruptcies among timber industry enterprises amid declining revenues and rising costs in the sector due to the “pivot to the East” resulting from sanctions. This is stated in the market participants’ draft appeal to first deputy prime minister denis manturov. Among other things, the authors are asking for a three-year moratorium on bankruptcy proceedings in the forestry sector initiated by creditors, since even large companies have “exhausted their financial reserves” and are operating at a loss, which is causing them to accumulate debts from taxes and other mandatory payments. Analysts estimate the industry’s losses over the past three years at more than 15 billion rubles.

The key top management of the 15 largest russian banks received a total compensation package, including salaries and bonuses, of 63 billion rubles based on results of the year 2025. Overall, the income of top managers exceeded the annual budgets of 16 russian regions.

russian companies have faced mass layoffs of top managers. By the end of 2025, 18% of CEOs in the sample of companies had been replaced – this is nearly twice the global average, which stands at around 10%. Since 2022, more than half of the largest companies have already changed their CEO, and in 63% of cases, changes were unscheduled.

russian clothing manufacturers, whom the government had counted on to replace imports and fill the void left by Western brands that had exited the country, have plunged into their worst crisis since the pandemic began. In January–February 2026, clothing production in the country plummeted by 17.2% – the sharpest decline since April 2020, when factories and plants shut down  due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

In russia, the number of debt collection agencies has surged, while  the volume of debts assigned to them has exceeded 1.2 trillion rubles. Over the past five years, the number of companies in this segment has nearly doubled.

The growth rate of the rf’s entire hotel market in 2025 more than halved. The results for 2026 may turn out to be even worse. Currently, hoteliers are losing both russian tourists and foreign visitors.

Shares of the russian developer “samolet” fell to a historic low and lost 28% over the month. The company requested a preferential loan of 50 billion rubles to refinance its debt and reduce the burden of high interest rates. However, the government refused.

By the end of February 2026, the number of defective and unrepaired freight wagons in the “russian railways” network had reached 158,000 units, accounting for 11% of the total fleet. Currently, approximately 80% of all wagons that have been permanently taken out of service belong to the non-operational fleet. As a result, there is no longer an operational reserve of wagons that could be used to address local shortages in loading regions. The reduction of rolling stock lease rates by approximately 70% in 2025 resulted in operators’ cutting their budgets for wagon repairs.

“The russian academy of sciences must do its best to provide industry, the social sector, and the economy as a whole with innovations and modern developments,” stated prime minister mikhail mishustin. russian scientists will have to achieve a scientific breakthrough amid funding cuts: currently, the budget allocates 0.36% of GDP to civilian science – the lowest level since at least the 2000s.

Many russians continue to hold onto misconceptions from the Middle Ages, as a survey by the higher school of economics revealed. According to the study, 10% of russian citizens believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth, rather than the other way around. Compared to 2020–2021, the proportion of those who could not give the correct answer to this question increased by 3%.

The price of ready-made kulichi (Easter breads) in russia rose by an average of 19% over the year, while the cost of the ingredients needed to make them increased by 8.3% over the same period. The sharpest price increases were recorded in tyumen (38%) and rostov (31%) regions.

Utility rates have skyrocketed across the rf. While a 1.7% increase was promised, in some regions the increase reached 5–6%, and for certain services – up to 8–18%. Meanwhile, in kemerovo region and mordovia, rates rose by 21.5% and 21.4% at the start of the year. Utility costs did not rise so significantly in the north: residents there already pay more due to isolated networks and expensive energy.

In the capital of novosibirsk region, layoffs and salary cuts for employees began due to the government’s cuts to funding for budgetary institutions.

Authorities in belgorod region have postponed the payment of housing rental compensation for refugees from the border areas for the third time. Initially, people were promised the money would be transferred in early February, then by March 5, and later by April 5. According to the refugees and their relatives, payments actually stopped back in December 2025.

Demand for new housing in moscow has fallen by 40%.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Seimas of Lithuania has approved the extension of current national sanctions against Russian and Belarusian citizens until 2028, but considers them insufficient and has decided to ask the government to draft a new, tougher bill.