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

“We in Sweden strongly support the brave people in Ukraine, the military and veterans. You have our full support. Solidarity with Ukraine in Swedish society is very strong,” said King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius believes that the existing legal framework for European defense is insufficient and that a European Defense Union should be created, which should include Ukraine, among others.

Ukraine has already received 90% of the funding, approximately $45 billion, through the ERA Loans mechanism – funds derived from revenues of frozen russian assets.

In June of this year, Ukraine will receive a mine countermeasure vessel from the Netherlands, on which the crew is already undergoing training.

The European Commission has already ensured the safe evacuation of over 5,000 patients from Ukraine to hospitals in 22 European countries to provide specialized medical care under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Ukraine has proposed to the Netherlands a special security partnership agreement – the Drone Deal.

Ukraine and Sweden have signed a declaration confirming the parties’ intention to open a Ukrainian Unity Hub in Stockholm.

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The United States of America has extended by one year the state of emergency restricting the movement and docking of russian-linked vessels in US ports.

European Commission Spokesperson Anitta Hipper has stated that russian officials’ claims regarding the alleged involvement of the Baltic states and Finland in organizing flights of Ukrainian drones for further attacks on russia’s territory are groundless. “They (the rf) are creating pretexts for escalation and undermining regional security. Nothing new,” the European Commission Spokesperson emphasized.

“russia wants to intimidate everyone who provides assistance to Ukraine. But we are not paying attention to this,” Prime Minister of the Netherlands Rob Jetten commented on russian threats against European countries where joint with Ukraine UAV production facilities are located.

France insists that the conflict surrounding Iran must not weaken support for Ukraine, and that russia must not reap economic benefits from the Middle East crisis through increased oil revenues. This was stated by Minister of Economy and Finance of France Roland Lescure. “russia must not reap the benefits of this crisis,” he emphasized.

Moldova has declared representatives of the command of the russian military task force, illegally stationed in unrecognized Transnistria, persona non grata. “These individuals have been declared persona non grata on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, and the reason is very simple and specific: the russian army is illegally present on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. That is exactly what we said; we took the bold step and made this decision – to declare them persona non grata,” pointed out Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament Igor Grosu.

russian seaborne oil exports for the week of April 6–12 fell by 16.1% to 291,000 barrels per day, marking the lowest level since June 2024. The sharpest decline in shipments was recorded in novorossiysk – down by 73.2% to 19,000 barrels per day. Market participants do not expect Urals shipments from novorossiysk to resume by the end of April.

In January–March 2026, 1,080 companies providing hotel and health resort services were liquidated in russia. This is by 16.3% more than a year earlier. At this, the number of new organizations in the industry decreased by 11%.

Amid a shortage of aircraft, russian airlines are cutting back on domestic flights, redeploying their fleets to more profitable international routes. They attribute this redeployment to the airlines’ desire to maintain financial stability. Over the first nine months of 2025, their operating profit fell by 30.4%. At this, expenses grew faster than revenue.

By the end of 2025, the number of employees in russia who were transferred to part-time work, reduced schedules, or furloughs had risen sharply. In the fourth quarter, there were 1.6 million such workers. This figure reached its highest level since the second quarter of 2020, when the country was under restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Overall, in 2025, the number of workers with part-time employment and on furlough increased by 14.3%.

The “kazan electromechanical plant”, one of russia’s top three manufacturers of autolifts, was unable to withstand high costs and competition from China and laid off 70% of its employees. Last year, the plant’s capacity was utilized at 50%; in the first quarter of this year, it was at 30%. According to experts, one-fifth of russia’s enterprises may not survive this year.

In russia, the cost of transporting frozen products in special containers has risen by 25%. This will affect retail prices for fish.

In the first quarter of this year, russia’s cattle herd declined. The total herd decreased by 0.8% year-on-year, with the number of cows falling by 1.7%. These figures are falling due to the reduction in small farms and private households. At the same time, although affordable and inexpensive milk will remain on the market, its quality will decline. The situation with meat is more complicated, as mass culls of livestock in regions where there were outbreaks of pasteurellosis will affect the sector of farms and private households.

In russia, funeral services are becoming more expensive due to rising costs, but raising prices by the necessary percentage is not feasible, so many organizations have found themselves on the brink of bankruptcy. By 2026, the issue of funeral costs in russia has become not only a social but also an economic one. Over the past three years, services have become by 30–45% more expensive.

As a result of a hack on the Grinex cryptocurrency exchange, over 1 billion rubles were stolen from russian users. According to exchange representatives, the digital traces and nature of the attack point to resources and technologies “available exclusively to entities in unfriendly states”. Grinex replaced the Garantex exchange, which the US Department of the Treasury exposed in March 2025 for money laundering and violating sanctions.

russian authorities intend to ban hosting providers from providing computing power to owners of websites and IT systems that provide access to resources blocked in russia.

russian courts have begun applying amendments adopted in 2025 that recognize the use of VPNs as an aggravating circumstance in the commission of crimes.

The government of the rf has announced the creation of 10 new prosthetics centers amid a growing number of amputees among “veterans of the special military operation”.

The labor shortage in russia is partly the fault of... zoomers. According to the federation of independent trade unions of the rf, they were supposed to replace the workers who had left, but did not.

In 2025, the number of russians newly diagnosed with alcoholism or alcohol-induced psychosis reached 56.9 per 100,000 residents. This is a record high over the past nine years. Compared to 2024, the incidence of alcoholism rose by 30%, marking the sharpest increase in the history of the survey. The figure increased in 69 regions. As in previous years, chukotka led in the number of cases – 391 per 100,000 residents. It also tops the list of regions with the highest number of alcohol-related deaths. In second place is the perm territory (288 per 100,000 residents). The rate has increased 3.5-fold. This is the highest figure in the region since records began. Rounding out the top three is the nenets autonomous district – 231.5 people per 100,000 residents. In omsk region, the number of people newly diagnosed with alcoholism increased fivefold, in astrakhan region – fourfold.

Due to a labor shortage, in 2026, over a thousand students will be recruited for the construction of the moscow–st. petersburg high-speed railway.

irkutsk region has spent 30 billion rubles on aid for participants in the war against Ukraine since 2022. In 2026, 4 billion rubles have already been spent on these purposes over the course of 3.5 months. At this, the regional budget for 2026 allocated 5.2 billion rubles for the heating season instead of the necessary 11.1 billion. The budget deficit in irkutsk region had reached 46 billion rubles by 2026. The authorities have announced budget cuts and reduced spending on education, healthcare, infrastructure, and other state programs.

In dzhidinsky district of buryatia, 4% of all able-bodied men have died in the war against Ukraine. At this, dzhidinsky district is one of the poorest in the republic. 92% of the schools there are in disrepair, and none of them is connected to the central water supply system. The average life expectancy for men, even in peacetime, is 53 years.

The mayor of bodaibo aleksei botvin has been fined 10,000 rubles (approximately EUR 110) for failing to fulfill his obligations to protect the population during an emergency – city residents were left without water and heating for over a month in 40-degree frosts.

Schoolchildren in belgorod have been banned from searching the internet for the words “Hitler”, “RDK”, and “Ukraine”.

Due to sanctions, starting April 21, transactions with “belgazprombank”’s Mastercard cards will become unavailable within the European Union.

belarus’ gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.4% in January–March 2026. A year ago, growth stood at 3.1%. According to the 2026 targets approved by lukashenko, GDP was supposed to grow by 2.8%.

In three months, by 40.4% fewer housing units for low-income residents were built in belarus with state support than in the same period a year earlier.

As of January 1, 2026, population of belarus stood at 9,056,080. Within a year, the country lost more than 53,000 people. And this is only what official statistics acknowledges – the massive exodus following the 2020 protests was never reflected in those figures.

The braslav district executive committee has revoked the decision to organize and hold the “Braslav Sparks” International Festival of traditional culture. This effectively marks the end of one of belarus’ oldest cultural brands. The International Festival has existed since 1967. Experts attribute this to the “optimization” of belarus’ cultural sector. The Festival has weathered numerous historical changes but could not withstand the current cultural policy in belarus.

The belarusian “Wikipedia” has warned of a security issue for editors: the project lost its reviewers – participants who could hide or delete edits to sensitive historical topics. As a result, information about authors and the content of edits may now remain public. Participants located in belarus are advised to refrain from editing political and other risky articles from their accounts, even under pseudonyms. As an alternative, they are encouraged to use temporary accounts or enable incognito mode.