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

The European Union’s new 21st package of sanctions against russia will focus on the energy sector, financial services, cryptocurrencies, trade, and fisheries. This was announced by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during the presentation of the sanctions package proposed by the Commission. This sanctions package will include measures targeting the russian energy sector, banks, and trade and fishing companies.

According to her, the European Commission is proposing to include in the new EU package of sanctions against russia a ban on entry into the European Union for all combatants who participated in the war against Ukraine on the side of the rf. “For the first time, we are proposing to ban entry into the European Union for anyone who has served in the russian armed forces since the start of the war,” von der Leyen stated. She emphasized that “Europe will remain closed to anyone who participated in the invasion of Ukraine”.

The new 21st package of EU sanctions against russia will also include more than 30 companies involved in drone production, as well as other companies and export items that support the rf’s military-industrial complex. This was announced by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.

Germany and its European partners intend to work with “renewed vigor” to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. This was stated by the German government. “We are in a phase of reorientation, also in light of the new, changed situation in Ukraine itself and on the front lines,” said government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius.

According to the government of the FRG, proposals from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine regarding negotiations with russia will be discussed next week within the framework of the “Group of Seven” and then at the EU summit.

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen believes that Europe must more closely integrate the Ukrainian defense industry into its own. “We must integrate the Ukrainian defense industry even more closely into the European one. Ukraine is constantly developing new technologies and capabilities, from which we must take a cue,” she emphasized.

President of Estonia Alar Karis has called for the rapid opening of all clusters in the negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU. He stressed that Ukraine’s place is in the EU and NATO, and the promise of European membership for Ukraine “cannot remain merely on paper”.

US representative to the UN Security Council Dan Negrea has called russia’s invasion of Ukraine a strategic failure for russian dictator putin. Negrea has emphasized that russia cannot achieve its goals in the war against Ukraine. In his view, an escalation of hostilities by the russian occupiers will lead nowhere, so it would be better if the kremlin ended the war immediately. The American diplomat has also called on UN member states to stop aiding russia.

The plenary session of the Estonian Supreme Court ruled by a majority vote that the new version of the law, which imposes restrictions on churches supporting russia’s aggression, does not violate Estonia’s Constitution.

China’s exports to russia in May grew at the fastest pace in the last three months. In yuan terms, they increased by 29.6% year-on-year to 75.6 billion yuan ($11.15 billion), accelerating from April’s growth of 21.1%.

The average EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization) of russian oil companies fell by 40% in May.

No new department stores have opened in russia since the beginning of 2026.

Sales of chocolate bars in the russian retail sector in January–March 2026 fell by 13% in volume terms year-on-year.

In 2025, sales of uaz vehicles in russia totaled 19,800 units. This figure is by 36% lower than sales in 2024.

Book print runs in russia fell by 26% over the year. The crisis also affected offline retail, where sales dropped by 18.8% as shoppers shifted to online marketplaces. Experts attribute this collapse to the increased tax burden on shops, as well as stricter censorship requirements.

Last year, russia recorded the highest number of online shops in the last decade that saw a decline in sales. Thirty-five of the largest online retailers reported a drop in sales. This is a record since observations began in 2016. The largest decline last year was recorded by “megamarket” – minus 93%, to 24.5 billion rubles. Significant declines were seen at: “eldorado” – less by 45% (23.6 billion), mts shop – by 30% (11.6 billion), auchan – by 28% (5.4 billion), “kuper” – by 27% (12.8 billion), “m.video” – by 26% (98.9 billion), “vinlab” – by 22% (9.7 billion), “magnit market” – by 21% (10.5 billion), and “vprok” (X5)—by 20% (20.3 billion). The slowdown is attributed to rising prices, which are limiting consumer demand.

The share of foreign companies in the russian non-food retail sector had fallen to nearly zero as of the beginning of this year.

Pro-kremlin oligarch and founder of the aluminum company “rusal” deripaska has predicted that 3 million russians will lose their jobs. Oligarch mordashov has also stated that his company, “severstal”, has stopped hiring and is considering layoffs due to the crisis in the steel industry.

The government of the rf has imposed a moratorium on dividend payments by the state-owned hydropower company “rusHydro” until 2030. In turn, “rusHydro” – russia’s largest power generation company, accounting for 12% of the country’s total electricity production – has warned investors of the risk of default on its debt obligations, which total more than one trillion rubles.

The russian sporting goods chain “desport”, which replaced the French Decathlon three years ago, is on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2025, the company’s net loss amounted to 2.3 billion rubles. A year earlier, this figure was even higher – 2.9 billion.

The kremlin regime has ordered regions to raise taxes on russians and businesses to plug a record budget “hole”.

In four regions of the rf (kemerovo, vologda, arkhangelsk, and tyumen regions) the budget deficit has exceeded 30% of their own revenues. In another six regions - the komi republic, the yamalo-nenets autonomous okrug, sakhalin, orenburg, chelyabinsk, and murmansk regions – the deficit has exceeded 25%.

The krasnodar territory and rostov region are experiencing shortage of petrol, following the temporarily occupied Crimea.

In omsk, russia’s one and only producer of funchoza is going bankrupt. Products from the company “vito” accounted for about 20–25% of the russian market.

Massive delays in the payment of child care benefits have been reported across russia. Residents of the cities of moscow, st. petersburg, vologda, ulyanovsk, yaroslavl, as well as of kaluga, tula, and sverdlovsk regions, and the krasnodar territory, have faced these delays.

The all-pussian center for the study of public opinion (vtsiom) has stopped publishing putin’s approval ratings after they fell below 30% – the lowest level since the start of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

Nearly half (48%) of owners of small and medium-sized businesses in russia have experienced professional burnout. This is evidenced by the results of a study. The main cause of burnout, cited by 76% of survey participants, was working under conditions of prolonged economic instability. Respondents mentioned declining financial performance (64%), customer attrition (61%), longer deal cycles (52%), and declining customer loyalty (49%) as aggravating factors.

There are only 12 psychologists per 100,000 residents in russia, while about 40% of graduates from relevant departments eventually leave the profession.

As of June 8, 871 people have been recognized as political prisoners in belarus. At least 17 of them are foreigners. Of these, every fifth political prisoner is in a dangerous situation (a zone of particular risk).