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

“…The United Kingdom, together with Sweden, will provide EUR 300 million in support for the delivery of 16 new, state-of-the-art aircraft that will help defend Ukraine’s airspace,” said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “The United Kingdom’s support… will never change; it’s in our DNA. Ukrainian flags have been flying on churches and town halls across the country throughout this conflict. Your struggle is our struggle. Your security is our security, and the United Kingdom will stand firm,” he emphasized.

The United Kingdom is accelerating the development of its own ballistic missile as part of the Nightfall program, which it plans to transfer to Ukraine upon completion.

Sweden has allocated nearly EUR 127 million to the World Bank’s Special Program for Ukraine Recovery 2.0 under the new IDA Crisis Facility 2.0 mechanism, through which aid for Ukraine’s reconstruction will be provided. Thanks to this contribution, loans totaling approximately 4.2 billion kronor (EUR 380 million) will be available for Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery projects.

“…Approximately EUR 2.5 billion in arms export licenses have been issued for Ukraine to provide military support for its self-defense against russia’s war of aggression, which is unlawful under international law. Thus, Ukraine has the highest total value of issued licenses among both third countries and all recipient countries,” reads a statement from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

In January–June 2026, Ukraine’s imports of power generation units and converters totaled $499.6 million.

More than 52% of Poles believe that Poland should continue to provide military support to Ukraine.

Portugal wants to add russia to its list of tax havens. Adding russia to Portugal’s “blacklist” would require Portuguese residents to declare all assets in the rf and could result in a higher tax rate of 35% on income and transactions related to russia.

max and vk have been removed from Google Play after having been added to the EU sanctions list.

Huawei, China’s largest smartphone manufacturer, removed the vk app from its AppGallery store, effectively joining the European Union’s sanctions against the russian company.

russia’s wealthiest businessmen have transferred billions of dollars out of the country over the past year amid growing concerns about the state of the country’s economy and the national budget.

The fuel crisis has made business activity in the russian economy fall to the levels seen in the spring of 2022. The business climate index, calculated by the central bank based on a survey of 12,300 companies, fell to minus 3.6 points in June from 0.9 in May (zero separates growth from decline). Not only did companies’ assessments of the current situation deteriorate sharply, but so did their expectations – across most industries and all enterprise categories (large, medium, and small).

According to data from the rf central bank’s monitoring, companies’ price expectations rose by 4.4% in July—to 20.2%. The average expected price increase for the next three months on an annualized basis also rose – by 1.5%, to 5.8%.

Inflation in russia stood at 6.02% at the end of June, compared to 5.31% a month earlier. Consumer prices rose by 0.87% in June and by 4.19% – since the beginning of the year.

The state-owned corporation “rosatom”, the monopoly in russia’s nuclear energy sector that builds nuclear power plants and nuclear-powered icebreakers, has been forced to postpone a number of major projects due to economic problems in the rf.

Due to downtime at oil refineries in the rf, oil production, wholesale trade, and freight turnover have declined.

Overall, freight rates in russia rose by nearly a third – by 28.8% – over the course of the year. The most significant jump, however, occurred over the past month and a half – a 17.5% increase. On some routes, rates soared by as much as 150% over the course of the year.

russia’s largest food retailers have slowed down the pace of opening new shops. In the first quarter of 2026, the 200 largest chains recorded the lowest volume of new retail space openings in the past 15 years – 282,500 square meters, which is by 36% less than last year.

In the first half of the year, the corporate bankruptcy segment in the rf showed growth. Both the number of legal entities already declared insolvent and the number of newly filed bankruptcy cases increased – by 10.8% and 20.9%, respectively. Moreover, companies with debt are increasingly announcing their intention to file for bankruptcy; the number of such announcements exceeded the figures for 2025 by 43% and those for 2024 – by 83%.

Several russian retail companies have found themselves on the brink of closure and bankruptcy – the cosmetics manufacturer “oomph,” the grocery chain “selgros”, and the streetwear brand “marcelo miracles”. These companies face the risk of closure amid rising costs, falling demand, and military summons from the military commissariat.

In the first half of 2026, 11,300 lifts were installed in russia, which is by 28% fewer than during the same period last year. 15 of the 20 largest market players reported a decline. The main reason is a reduction in government orders.

rosstat again reported an acceleration in petrol price growth. Prices rose by 2.3% over the week and by 16.4% – since the beginning of the year.

In the trans–baikal territory, petrol is now being distributed once every six days.

Two other regions in siberia – omsk region and the krasnoyarsk territory – have faced problems with garbage collection due to a fuel shortage. At the end of June, the transbaikal territory faced the same problem.

In the perm territory, an 80-year-old man died while waiting in line for petrol.

The EU Court of Justice has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the ban on the transit of belarusian potash fertilizers through Lithuania.

In Latvia, a criminal case has been opened against officials of the belarusian border guard service for organizing illegal migration.