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

Cyprus’ EU Presidency will seek to resolve the issue of allocation of a EUR 90 billion loan to Ukraine as quickly as possible and to adopt the 20th package of sanctions against russia following Péter Magyar’s election victory in Hungary.

The next meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (“Ramstein”) will take place on April 15.

Representative of the UK Ministry of Defense Alistair Carns has pointed out that Ukraine may play an important role in international efforts to ensure the security of the Strait of Hormuz.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have issued a joint statement on behalf of their Ministers of Foreign Affairs, rejecting russia’s accusations that they had provided their airspace for Ukrainian strikes on the rf’s territory. “Despite the official response, russia continues to lie,” the statement emphasizes.

Ukraine and Germany are preparing a series of joint projects to be implemented in the near future. These include, in particular, a significant strengthening of air defense systems, additional funding for deep-strike and middle-strike drones, and development of joint technological solutions.

Germany has provided Ukrainian military servicemen with five more armored vehicles for evacuating the wounded.

The Congress of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party supported a resolution to waive visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens’ short-term trips to Canada.

Estonia’s Security Police (Kaitsepolitsei) has concluded that the Estonian Orthodox Church has only formally distanced itself from the russian orthodox church while maintaining ties with moscow.

The European Commission has threatened to block the allocation of EUR 2 million to the Venice Biennale Foundation in response to the opening of russia’s pavilion.

russia’s trade surplus in January–February of this year fell by a third compared to the same period in 2025, amounting to $14.1 billion versus $21 billion a year earlier.

The sharp economic slowdown and high interest rates have worsened the financial condition of russian companies and led to a significant increase in overdue payments. Over the past year, companies’ total accounts receivable remained virtually unchanged – 123.8 trillion rubles versus 123 trillion (0.6%) – while overdue receivables rose by a quarter – from 6.1 to 7.7 trillion rubles. As a result, the share of overdue accounts receivable increased to 10.3% compared to 8.5% in 2024.

Despite the russian billionaires’ proposal to voluntarily contribute to the budget to finance the war, the government of the rf plans to impose an additional “excess profit tax” on large companies. It is expected to amount to 20% of the amount by which profits in 2025 exceeded the level of years 2018-2019.

Large russian cities are running out of spare electricity capacity. In the coming years, moscow may face an electricity shortage. By 2030, the capital could be short of 1.6 GW of capacity, and by 2042, the shortfall could reach 4.2 GW. One of the reasons cited is the difficulty in maintaining foreign-made equipment, particularly gas turbines for thermal power plants, which have been left without spare parts or repairs following the tightening of Western sanctions in June 2023. General Electric and Siemens have refused to service these turbines. Foreign-made turbines accounted for about 9% of the russian power grid’s capacity. Another problem remains the high physical wear and tear of power grids – about 70% of distribution networks and half of transmission networks have reached the end of their service life.

Companies involved in road construction in the rf, following the lead of struggling timber industry players, have requested a moratorium on bankruptcy proceedings for market participants, warning of the threat of mass closures. In addition to restricting bankruptcy proceedings, the business community is asking that, until the end of 2027, no audits be conducted on market participants and that their executives not be held criminally or subsidiarily liable. As of the end of the first three months of 2026, the total accounts receivable of the eight largest market players exceeded 500 billion rubles. This figure surged by 147.2% year-on-year amid delays in payments under government contracts.

Construction supply shop chains in the rf have begun to downsize amid the falling demand, rising costs, and deteriorating housing market. By the end of 2025, the “stroitelny dvor” chain had closed 98 shops. The total number of shops decreased by 23% over the year. The number of shops belonging to the former OBI, which now operates under the “domlenta” brand, also decreased by 12% (it now has 23 hypermarkets remaining).

Turkish clothing brands NetWork, Oxxo, Club, and Mudo have decided to close all their shops in russia. These brands entered the rf’s market after Western retailers left the country in 2022.

Car buyers on lease are increasingly shifting to the used vehicle segment: the share of such sales in the russian market reached 40% in February, setting a new all-time high. Demand is driven by the high cost of new vehicles.

In January-March 2026, russia’s truck market shrank by 28.9% overall – to 11,800 units. “kamaz” leads the market with 3,899 vehicles (–13.8%), followed by “gaz” in second place (846 vehicles, –35.7%), and China’s FAW in third (831 trucks, –30.4%).

In the first quarter, 1,300 tenders were held in the rf for the purchase of vehicles for government employees, totaling 6.99 billion rubles. This is by 26% fewer than last year in terms of units, and by 19% less in monetary terms. Purchases of Lada cars saw the sharpest decline.

In russia, delivery times for equipment from European brands that have left the market – such as Siemens, Bosch, AEG, Miele, Dyson, and others – have risen sharply. Since late February, delivery times have increased 1.5–3 times, while logistics costs have risen by up to 200%.

In January–March 2026, russia’s regions more than halved (by 55%) their purchases of lifts to replace old ones that had served their standard 25-year lifespan. Regional authorities in the rf also spent half as much on purchasing lifts.

In 2025, sales of personal computers (PCs) in russia fell by 2.6% compared to 2024. The all-in-one segment ended the year with sales of 260,000 units, which is by 17% fewer than in 2024. Laptop sales in 2025 totaled 3.36 million units, with a negative growth rate of minus 4%, returning to the levels of 2017–2019. In 2026, the laptop market may lose another 5% due to rising prices and introduction of a technology tax starting in the autumn of 2026. In this case, sales will return to levels seen a decade ago.

In 2025, only 30 deals were concluded in the field of artificial intelligence in russia (including venture capital investments, direct investment agreements, and mergers and acquisitions), which is by 39% fewer than the previous year.

In the first quarter of 2026, the cost of medical services in russia rose by an average of 12.6% compared to the same period last year.

Over the four years of the war against Ukraine (2022–2025), the consumer price index in russia rose by 39%.

Most russians (82%) expect that over the next year, prices for food and utilities will rise faster than their incomes.

ministry of justice of the rf has added Stanford University, one of the largest universities in the USA and home to 85 Nobel laureates, to its list of “undesirable organizations”. Prior to this, russian authorities had already declared several other international educational institutions undesirable. Among them – George Washington University, Yale University, the University of California, Berkeley, as well as Tufts University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. In total, over the past five years, including Stanford University, russian authorities have designated at least 19 Western universities, educational alliances, and programs as undesirable.

Sales of George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984” in russia rose by 54% within a month.

The fsb has taken ownership of seven detention centers that were previously part of the federal penitentiary service. These are the lefortovo detention center in moscow and detention centers in st. petersburg, rostov-on-don, krasnodar, vladikavkaz, and chelyabinsk. At the same time, the chiefs of at least four of them have been replaced.

In komsomolsk-on-amur, Chinese workers held a mass meeting over unpaid wages.

Head of the republic of khakassia valentin konovalov has stated that the idea of erecting a monument to stalin in the republic’s capital, abakan, was supported by 78.52% of those who voted. Only 13,578 people participated in the vote – 2.6% of the region’s population. Most of the survey participants were retirees. Besides, a single person could vote multiple times.

Poland began a construction of an additional barrier along the border with belarus. The barrier is planned to be erected along the entire 186-kilometer stretch of the Polish-belarusian border in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Work is scheduled to be completed by the end of spring.

The latest update to the list of “extremist materials” compiled by the ministry of information of the rb includes the Instagram account @americacenterminsk. This refers to the American Center Minsk, which is part of the American Spaces network. This network consists of cultural and educational centers affiliated with the US Department of State.

belarus’ budget deficit has exceeded 30% of GDP. This is a result of expenditures growing faster than revenues.

In January–February, belarus’  trade deficit in investment goods rose to $118 million.

According to first-quarter results, sales of “maz” trucks in russia decreased. In March, “maz” sold 275 trucks in the rf, which is by 5.5% fewer than during the same period last year. According to first-quarter results, truck sales fell by 18.6% to 696 units.

lukashenko has stated the need to “give birth to children” so that the country’s own citizens work in it, “not those from north korea”. During his rule (since 1994), belarus’ population has decreased by nearly 1.2 million.