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

“Sweden remains a steadfast supporter of Ukraine – its military aid includes tanks, combat vehicles, advanced weapon systems, ammunition, training, and aerial surveillance and command aircraft,” said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, adding that Sweden also supports Ukraine’s defense industry, particularly through the production of drones and missiles, by providing direct investments.

The EU Court of Justice has confirmed that freezing the assets of sanctioned russians is in line with EU law in situations where they are not directly but indirectly linked to a sanctioned individual.

President of the European Council António Costa has condemned russia’s provocations and threats against the Baltic states, calling them a threat to the entire EU.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has condemned russia’s threats against the Baltic states, calling the kremlin’s accusations “complete nonsense”.  “moscow’s threats against the Baltic states are not a sign of strength, but of weakness,” she stated.

If Ukraine succeeds in the war, Europe will be safer, but if it is forced into a bad peace, the consequences will be felt in Europe for decades. This was stated by President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel.

Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces Karel Řehka has stated that Ukraine’s future NATO membership is a “logical step”.

A court in Kazakhstan has allowed “Naftogaz of Ukraine” to seize assets belonging to russia’s “Gazprom” in the country as part of a $1.4 billion lawsuit..

Authorities of Kyrgyzstan have suspended the operations of several tens of companies in the wholesale trade, transport, and logistics sectors suspected of circumventing Western sanctions against russia.

russia’s gold reserves declined in April 2026 for the fourth consecutive month. As of May 1, russia’s gold reserves stood at 73.9 million ounces of gold bullion. Over the month, this volume decreased by 200,000 ounces, and since the beginning of the year – by 900,000 ounces. As a result, the total volume of gold on the central bank’s balance sheet fell to its lowest level since March 2022. Converted to tons, the central bank’s gold reserves lost 27.9 tons of gold between January and April.

In russia, 137,466 citizens and individual entrepreneurs were declared bankrupt by the courts in January–March. This is by 13.7% more than in the first quarter of 2025.

russians have started using taxis and food delivery services less frequently. The main reason is a sharp rise in prices. In particular, taxi fares have jumped by 30–40% over the past two years, outpacing overall inflation.

The board of directors of the russian gas company “gazprom” recommended not paying dividends for the 2025 fiscal year. “gazprom” last paid dividends for the first half of 2022.

The board of directors of the car-sharing service “whoosh” also recommended not paying dividends for the 2025 fiscal year. The company reported a net loss of over 2.9 billion rubles, compared to a profit in 2024.

The project for the russian TVRS-44 “Ladoga” aircraft has been suspended. According to the ministry of industry and trade’s plan, 105 aircraft were to be produced.

Over the next five years, by at least 22.4% fewer rooms will be renovated in outdated russian health resorts than in previous years. Investors are postponing project timelines due to the high cost of borrowing, rising expenses, and limited consumer interest in wellness vacations.

More than 3.5 million russians seek psychological help every year.

The russian presidential administration demands from state-run and loyal media outlets to avoid the word “ban” in their publications and to completely exclude it from headlines. This directive came as “united russia”’s approval rating fell to its lowest point since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.

Despite putin’s calls to have eight children and return to the traditions of large families in Ancient Rus, russians are in no hurry to improve the demographic situation, even in rural areas. The total fertility rate of the rural population fell to 1.464 by the end of 2025 – the lowest figure in the last 35 years.

In the rf, 272,000 babies were born between January and March 2026 – by 17,000 fewer than in the first quarter of 2025, which was the country’s worst since the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Residents of ryazan began complaining about the lack of AI-92 and AI-95 petrol at filling stations.

By the summer season of 2026, vacations on the coast of kaliningrad region had become by 25–30% more expensive. Travel agencies are reporting a decline in demand.

Mobile internet has been blocked in st. petersburg for three days now.

In tomsk region, schoolchildren have been banned from wearing clothing with inscriptions in foreign languages.

The release of a number of political prisoners is a positive step, but does not indicate systemic changes in the repressive policies of the belarusian regime. This is stated in a declaration by the Bureau of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the rb.

In Poland, a 60-day extension of the temporary restriction on the right to submit applications for international protection at the Polish-belarusian border has come into effect.

In the ranking of the world’s best countries in the category of public administration, belarus ranks 87th out of 100.

In 2025, the number of sole proprietorships in belarus fell by 14%. The contribution of small businesses to the country’s total revenue for the year declined from 46.5% to 46.1%.

belarus has acknowledged a failure in the construction sector. Minister of construction and architecture of the rb aleksandr studnev has been warned that if there is no positive trend by the end of the first five months, the government will make “appropriate personnel decisions”.

The company “b-a International”, which operated belarus’ first private radio station, has filed for bankruptcy. In the 1990s, this company was the legal entity behind the popular “radio b- a” – an FM station that ultimately operated for about 30 years.