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

In response to the recent massive attacks on Ukraine, the European Union has imposed sanctions against five russian citizens who support the russian military-industrial complex and are involved in weapons production. Specifically, the “blacklist” includes ramil badgutdinov – ceo of ojsc “serpukhov plant ‘metallist’”, which manufactures systems used in russia’s “iskander-m” ballistic missile; as well as aleksandr dyukarev – ceo of ojsc “krasnoyarsk machine-building plant”, whose company manufactures ballistic missiles, including the rs-28 “sarmat” missile system. The sanctions list also includes executives of russian companies that produce military communications systems, develop software for unmanned aerial vehicles, and produce military space technologies.

Luxembourg has provided an additional EUR 8 million to support Ukraine’s energy sector.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned russia for its attacks on Ukraine, but at the same time condemned the launch of Ukrainian drones deep into russia’s territory.

Prime Minister of Lithuania Mindaugas Sinkevičius has assured that his country is preparing for any provocations from the rf.

The US Department of State has announced the expansion of sanctions against Cuba, specifically for its cooperation with russia, China, and iran. The sanctions list includes the companies Tecnoimport, Duna S.A., Union de Industria Militar, Empresa Militar Industrial Yuri Gagarin, and Tecnotex, which are involved in the procurement and delivery of military equipment from China and russia to Cuba.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski has called for discussions on the possibility of intercepting russian missiles while they are still over Ukrainian territory, without waiting for them to potentially enter Poland’s airspace.

YouTube has blocked the “russkaya obshchina” (“russian community” – Transl.) channel, which had 1.2 million subscribers, as it is prohibited to promote extremist and criminal groups at the platform. In addition to the main channel, the group’s backup YouTube channel has also been removed. “russkaya obshchina” is a russian far-right, nationalist, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, and pro-kremlin organization.

The value of nationalized assets in russia during the first half of 2026 reached $10.16 billion. This is comparable to the total value of nationalizations for the entire year of 2025.

Market inefficiency is on the rise in russia due to monopolization. The volume of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in russia in the second quarter of this year reached $18.8 billion, a 1.7-fold increase compared to the same period last year. This is the highest figure since 2020. Between January and June, 15 deals involving state participation were recorded.

russian authorities are preparing to lower quality requirements for jet fuel to increase its production following attacks on oil refineries. It is proposed that refineries be allowed to produce jet fuel that begins to freeze at -50 degrees Celsius, as opposed to the current standard of -60. This is expected to increase fuel production by 170,000–250,000 tons per month. At this, russia has a number of regions with particularly harsh climatic conditions (yakutia and the chukotka autonomous okrug), as well as moderately cold regions (bashkortostan, mari el, tatarstan, chuvashia, moscow, st. petersburg, etc.), where the use of aviation fuel with lower freezing-point requirements is not permitted.

The ministry of industry and trade of the rf is considering the possibility of introducing a recycling fee on railway equipment.

Over the past year, beef saw the sharpest price increase on shelves of russia’s shops – by 15.6%. Chicken prices also rose – by 7.3%. In just one month, from June 8 to July 8, chicken prices jumped by 5%. Meanwhile, the wholesale price of a whole broiler chicken in July jumped by 26% compared to the same date last year, the price of chicken breast rose by 32%.

In russia, the rise in buckwheat prices has accelerated sharply. Over the past week (through August 3), it rose by 0.9%. Since the beginning of the year, the price of buckwheat has increased by 7%, while inflation since the start of the year stands at 4.8%. Analysts describe the situation as “alarming”, alongside sugar, which has risen in price by 1.2% over the week and by 21.2% – since the start of the year.

From July 2025 to July 2026, zucchini prices in russia rose by 31%.

The software developer “moyoffice”, which had planned to replace Microsoft Office in russia with its own solutions, began closing offices due to losses. Prior to this, employees of “moyoffice” were informed of mass layoffs due to financial problems. At the end of 2025, the company’s net loss increased sevenfold compared to the previous year – to 8.82 billion rubles.

“magnit market” – the marketplace of the “magnit” retail chain – has disclaimed liability for failure to fulfill its obligations in case of drone strikes or missile attacks. Previously, the marketplaces “wildberries”, “megamarket”, “ozon”, and “yandex market” had also changed their terms of service and disclaimed liability in case of attacks.

The Turkish brand of home goods and textiles Madame Coco will close all of its shops in russia. The reason is the decline in foot traffic and russians’ lower purchasing power.

russians have started buying items from secondhand shops more often. In 2025, the russian secondhand and resale market (excluding pawnshops) reached over 950 billion rubles. By the end of this year, the market is expected to grow by another 12–15%.

Sales of new “moskvich” cars in russia fell by 20.3% from January through July. In July alone, 1,037 cars of this brand were sold, which is by 22.8% fewer than a year earlier.

Local authorities are threatening residents of tyumen – who are dissatisfied with the water quality due to its “fecal odor” – with a complete cutoff of the water supply. Over the past two days, one ton of dead fish has been collected in tyumen.

The number of pensioners in russia has reached 40.48 million.

In moscow, the planned number of flats has been reduced by more than 30%.

In the first half of the year, “belkoopsoyuz’s net loss amounted to 16.4 million belarusian rubles. This represents an 11-fold increase compared to the same period last year.