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

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution “Ensuring Accountability and Justice in Response to russia’s Ongoing Attacks Against Civilians in Ukraine”, in which it called on the EU to join and finalize the establishment of a tribunal on russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine as soon as possible. Parliamentarians believe that “accountability must extend to all those who can direct or facilitate the crime of aggression, including the highest political, military, and judicial leadership, such as members of russia’s state duma or the constitutional court of the rf”. The resolution also endorses the 20th package of EU sanctions against russia and emphasizes that they must not be lifted until a peace agreement is signed and implemented.

The European Parliament has ratified the European Union’s accession to the International Claims Commission for russia’s subsequent payment of reparations to Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has stated that European countries should not beg russia for negotiations to end the war, but instead put it in a position where moscow would move toward a genuine dialogue.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has confirmed the allocation of $400 million to Ukraine, which was approved by Congress at the end of last year.

In addition to stationary simulators, Ukraine has received mobile ones from its partners for training F-16 pilots.

The United States is prepared to provide up to $100 million as part of a joint G7 effort to repair the new sarcophagus at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which was damaged by a russian UAV strike.

Ukraine, Italy, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have established a multinational defense procurement coalition, CORPUS (Coalition for Resilient Procurement and Unified Support), to better coordinate procurement agencies and enhance the resilience of support systems.

“As for May 9, as you know, we celebrate Europe (Europe Day) and everything it stands for – namely, peace, unity, prosperity, and security – all of which russia does not uphold,” European Commission Spokesperson Anitta Hipper commented on the desire of some representatives of European countries to attend the May 9 parade in moscow. “The High Representative (EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas) has made it very clear to both EU member states and candidate countries that if you want to show your support, Kyiv is the place to be, and certainly not moscow,” Hipper concluded.

European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture, and Sport Glenn Micallef believes that allowing russian athletes to participate in international sporting events has political and security consequences.

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The United Kingdom has agreed with nine European countries to establish a joint naval task force to counter threats from russia. In addition to the UK, this group will include the Netherlands, five Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland), and the three Baltic states. The possibility of Canada joining is also being considered.

russians’ demand for tours to China has risen significantly following the simplification of the visa regime, while the flow of tourists from the PRC to russia has fallen short of market expectations. Introduction of a visa-free regime typically leads to a 30–90% increase in demand during the first season; however, this effect did not materialize in the case of China.

The cumulative net financial result (profit minus loss) of russian organizations in January–February 2026 fell by 33.1% year-on-year.

The share of unprofitable coal enterprises in russia rose in January–February 2026 to 59.3% from 57.6% a year earlier. The net loss of the coal industry in January–February amounted to 51.6 billion rubles, compared to 19.9 billion rubles in January–February 2025.

2025 was a record year for microfinance organizations in russia: citizens borrowed 2.1 trillion rubles (~$28 billion) from them – by 35% more than a year earlier. Half of all microloans in 2025 were issued at interest rates exceeding 250% per annum.

Car prices in russia have risen by over 200% in 12 years.

In the first quarter of 2026, russians began purchasing auto insurance policies less frequently. Demand for CASCO fell by 15%, and for OSAGO – by 10%, compared to the last three months of 2025.

In 2027, the cost of flats in new buildings in russia may rise by 10–15%. Materials are becoming more expensive, design and contractor labor are also requiring increasingly higher costs. As a result, all these factors are putting constant pressure on prices and driving them up.

A new wave of significant food price increases is expected in russia in May. Price increases for basic vegetable products (potatoes, carrots, cabbage, as well as imported peppers and eggplants) could reach 10–20%. Prices for meat for shashlik and other holiday needs may rise by 10–15%, and during peak periods – by up to 20%.

In April 2026, retail sales of shashlik in the rf fell by 10% year-on-year. This is due to a general decline in consumer activity.

Aquaculture production volumes in the rf may decline by 6% in 2026 due to the lack of a decision to allocate 215 million rubles from the ministry of agriculture for anti-epizootic measures. Without them, trout mortality could begin as early as June due to rising water temperatures. This factor compounds the shortage of high-quality feed, the lack of funds for development, and the generally low profitability of the fish farming business.

The decline in business activity in the civilian economy has affected the hospitality industry. In January–April, for the first time since 2001, not a single large hotel (rated 3 stars or higher and with a capacity of 100 rooms or more) was opened in russia.

Demand for hotel rooms in the krasnodar territory during the May holidays fell by 20.7% year-on-year. All in all,  in russia, the volume of hotel bookings for the period from April 27 to May 11 decreased by 11.1% year-on-year, despite a decline in the average hotel room rate. All ten key destinations showed a decline in demand. nizhny novgorod region ranked second in terms of the decline (-19.7%); it was followed by yaroslavl region (-19.5%) and the temporarily occupied Crimea (-14.2%). According to estimates by the association of tour operators of russia, demand fell by 15% year-on-year.

The loss of the russian airline aeroflot for the first three months of 2026 amounted to 7.9 billion rubles, compared to a profit of 1.9 billion rubles during the same period a year earlier.

“russian energy companies and systemically important enterprises must be required to independently protect their facilities from drone attacks,” said leader of the “just russia” faction in the state duma of the rf sergei mironov.

On the eve of May 9 and on the holiday itself, mobile internet will again be shut down in moscow, just as it was last year. The shutdowns will be “more powerful” than in 2025 – the kremlin will cut off all mobile communications, including SMS messaging and the operation of “whitelisted” services.

russians have been advised not to worry about planned internet outages due to “victory day” celebrations. This statement was made by deputy chair of the state duma committee on information policy andrei svintsov. According to him, internet shutdowns are no longer unusual, and all citizens of the rf have long since grown accustomed to them.

The government of the rf has allocated 44 billion rubles from the ministry of digital development’s budget to bail out from losses kirienko’s son’s “vk”. At this, nearly 10% of the ministry’s total expenditures were spent on the holding company.

The largest hosting provider, Cloudflare, has identified a domain belonging to the russian “national messenger” “Max” as spyware.

russia’s demographic problems cannot be resolved either by attracting migrants or by stimulating the birth rate. This is the view of academician of the “russian academy of sciences” aleksandr razumov.

In the khabarovsk territory, the shortage of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines for examining citizens in state medical institutions will not be resolved until the end of the war against Ukraine. “The company that manufactures this equipment has switched to producing goods for the front lines,” said governor of the region dmitry demeshin.

According to the Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index, belarus ranks 165th – between Yemen and Myanmar. The rb is one of the countries with the highest rates of imprisonment of journalists.

The “Belarusian Free Theater” is preparing its own, parallel to the official one, program for the Venice Biennale – about repression and life under lukashenko’s dictatorship.

In Belarus,  10 more people has been recognized  as political prisoners. As of April 30, there are 841 political prisoners.

In January–February, the rb’s trade deficit stood at $75.8 million; a month earlier, there was  a surplus of $154 million.

In 2025, 113,300 people left belarus to work abroad. At this, the actual number of belarusians leaving the country is significantly higher than the data from belstat. Meanwhile, belarus continues to face a labor shortage. As of April 29, the country as a whole needed nearly 140,200 workers.

The belarusian “polotsk dairy plant” reported an increase in losses in the first quarter of 2026. Specifically, the loss on sales amounted to 8.5 million rubles, compared to 282,000 rubles a year ago. The net loss of the “polotsk dairy plant” increased by 67.9%.