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

The European Union has imposed new sanctions against russia, adding more than 80 individuals and organizations to its blacklist. In particular, the list includes russian prosecutor general aleksandr gutsan, metropolitan of Simferopol and Crimea tikhon (shevkunov), and former commissioner for the rights of children in the rf pavel astakhov. The sanctions list also includes “lukoil – western siberia”, the presidential fund for cultural initiatives, “gazpromneft shipping”, and the s.a. lavochkin research and production association (part of “roscosmos”).

On June 15, the European Union is officially opening the first negotiation cluster with Ukraine and Moldova, marking the start of the practical phase of accession negotiations. The decision was supported by all 27 member states. This has been announced by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa.

The opening of the first cluster in accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova is a significant milestone in the enlargement process, and there is hope that all other clusters may also be opened as early as July. This was stated by EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos.

Reaching an agreement to open the first negotiation cluster for Ukraine and Moldova is an important milestone on the path to EU enlargement. This should serve as an impetus to support Ukraine and demonstrate readiness to accept it into the EU by 2030. This was stated by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys.

Following russia’s another massive shelling of Ukraine, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has stated that at the summit in France, G7 leaders will discuss increasing pressure on russia to end the war.

President of France Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that nothing can justify russia’s attack, which damaged a UNESCO World Heritage site. “Just as with the war of aggression that russia has been waging against Ukraine for over four years, nothing justifies this attack on our shared heritage. France is ready to cooperate with Ukrainian authorities responsible for the protection of cultural heritage,” Macron said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noël Barrot has called russia’s massive nighttime strike on Kyiv a manifestation of putin’s brutality and compared the damage to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to the bombing of Notre-Dame or the Basilica of Saint-Denis for the French.

Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani condemned russia’s massive attack on Ukraine on the night of June 15, during which the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was damaged. Commenting on the latest russian attack, the head of the Italian government emphasized the need to continue supporting Ukraine.

UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Yvette Cooper has called putin’s attack on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra “an act of deliberate desecration” as part of his “increasingly desperate assault on Ukraine”.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna has called the russian strike on the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra a demonstration of “barbarism and contempt” for humanity’s cultural heritage.

Hungary “strongly condemns” russia’s attack on Kyiv, which resulted, in particular, in damage to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. This was stated by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary Anita Orbán.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Maxime Prévot has pointed out the barbarity of the russian missile strikes on a “historically and religiously significant cathedral” and condemned the “murder of families in their sleep”.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Baiba Braze has called for preventing the “normalization” of the russian war and appealed, in particular, to the Venice Biennale and UNESCO to prevent russia’s participation in international events.

For the second year in a row, russia ranks last – 163rd – in the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2026, compiled by the Australian Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). According to the report, russia remains “the least peaceful country in the world”.

Sweden has called on other EU countries to take action against russian “shadow fleet” vessels sailing in their waters in order to limit funding for the kremlin’s war machine. This is stated in a letter from Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Malmér Stenergård and Minister of Civil Defense of Sweden Carl-Oskar Bohlin. The letter is addressed to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaia Kallas, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus (which currently holds the EU Council presidency) Constantinos Kombos, and Maria Luisa Albuquerque, European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union.

Ukraine can now activate emergency EU support to respond to large-scale cyber incidents after the Council of the European Union approved its inclusion in the Bloc’s Cybersecurity Reserve.

Commander of the Air Force of Germany, General Holger Neumann has stated his readiness to strike russia in case of an attack on NATO.

After the UK detained the tanker SMYRTOS (IMO: 9389100) in the English Channel – which London classifies as part of russia’s “shadow fleet” – for the first time, several other “shadow fleet” tankers heading toward the Channel began rerouting. The English Channel is one of the key maritime corridors between the Baltic Sea and global markets. A significant portion of the tankers transporting russian oil from Baltic ports traditionally follow this route.

Portugal’s largest bank, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, will close the accounts of russian citizens. According to preliminary reports, the bank will close the accounts of all customers holding russian passports who do not have a valid residence permit.

In May, South Korea reduced its imports of liquefied natural gas to the lowest level in over 2.5 years and, for the first time during this period, completely stopped purchasing LNG from russia. On an annual basis, import volumes fell by 25%, while compared to April, they decreased by 12%. The current figure is the lowest since September 2023.

The share of military spending in the rf’s federal budget revenue reached an unprecedented 65.26% in the first quarter of 2026.

More than a third of russians complained about working overtime due to staff shortages.

Every fifth business in russia may close. This was revealed by a survey conducted by the organization “opora rossii”. Besides, 83.2% of russian companies have not made any investments in development over the past three months, and 80.4% of respondents do not plan to allocate funds for these purposes in the next 12 months. A systemic decline in consumer demand was reported by 76.6% of surveyed russian entrepreneurs.

The labor shortage in the russian tourism industry has reached 250,000 people. According to forecasts, the need for personnel will continue to grow in the coming years and could increase to 400,000 specialists by 2030.

Western sanctions, an economic slowdown, and high interest rates on loans have plunged russia’s steel industry into its worst crisis since the 2000s. By the end of 2025, the country’s steel production had fallen to 67 million tons – the lowest level in the past 15 years. Compared to 2021, steelmakers lost 12% of their output, or 9 million tons per year. In the first quarter of 2026, the decline accelerated: despite orders from defense plants, steel production plummeted by 10.4%, to 15.6 million tons.

From January to May, 11 brands completely closed their shops in the russian fashion market. Among foreign brands, the Turkish streetwear brand Les Benjamins and Kazakhstan’s mass-market brand Gaissina closed their shops. Overall, according to Nikoliers’ forecast, in 2026, about 20 brands could leave the russian market. Last year, there were 35 of them.

Authorities of irkutsk region decided to turn off street lighting in a number of locations to save the budget, which had a deficit of 46.4 billion rubles by the end of 2025. Thus, they began turning off the lights in parks and pedestrian areas in Bratsk – the region’s second-largest city with a population of over 200,000.

More and more russian regions are facing fuel shortages. Following tatarstan and ulyanovsk region, filling stations in the kuzbass have introduced limits on petrol purchases.

Starting June 12, petrol stations in moscow belonging to the largest chains have also imposed restrictions on fuel sales.

Following the petrol market crisis, which has affected more than 20 regions, russia has faced problems with jet fuel. Several major airports have issued notices to pilots (NOTAN) regarding restrictions on aircraft refueling. Limits on jet fuel were set, in particular, in makhachkala, mineralnye vody, krasnodar, astrakhan, and nizhny novgorod.

In addition to the petrol shortage and restrictions on refueling aircraft at airports, another fuel market in russia has faced problems. Farmers in southern regions are complaining about a shortage of diesel fuel, as well as a sharp rise in its prices on the eve of the harvest season, which is already threatened by weather anomalies that have damaged crops.

russia has authorized the production of lower-quality petrol. The authorities took this step to avoid a large-scale fuel crisis and shortages at filling stations.

In sverdlovsk region, people with psychiatric diagnoses are being sent to fight in the war against Ukraine. This was reported by tatyana merzlyakova, the regional commissioner for human rights.

For the second year in a row, russian authorities have decided not to hold the main naval parade in st. petersburg.

The European Union has imposed sanctions against the belarusian company “izovak” LLC. The company has been added to russia’s military-industrial complex register. Together with its subsidiaries, it has supplied russian defense enterprises with goods worth approximately $200 million.

Lithuania’s Seimas has begun considering the issue of denouncing the agreement with belarus on the procedure for mutual travel by residents of border areas, which never entered into force.

belarus’ gross external debt as of April 1, 2026, stood at $38.2956 billion. As of the same date in 2025, it stood at $37.2126 billion. Thus, over 12 months, the debt increased by $1.083 billion (+2.9%).