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

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone has confirmed the Alliance’s continued military support for Ukraine. “I have seen Ukrainian courage with my own eyes: soldiers holding the line with extraordinary bravery for their homes, their families and their freedom. Their resilience reminds us what is at stake: not only Ukraine’s future, but the security of us all,” Dragone emphasized.

A meeting of the leaders of the Coalition of the Willing on further support for Ukraine will take place on August 24. The meeting will be co-chaired by United Kingdom Prime Minister Andy Burnham, President of France Emmanuel Macron, and Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz.

The Embassies of France, Germany, and Finland in Ukraine have lowered their flags as a sign of mourning for the residents of Kyiv who died following russia’s strikes on the night of August 20.

The Finnish company Innokas plans to launch drone production for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The drones the company will manufacture are based on unmanned systems developed by Ukrainian engineers.

The European division of russia’s largest payment system, “golden crown” – koronapay Europe – will give back its license to operate in Europe. The company has already begun the process of giving back its license and has stopped accepting new money transfers. The payment center, which operates the payment system, was included in the European Union’s 21st package of sanctions on July 23. New money transfers are currently unavailable.

The cost of shipping a container from China has reached its highest level in the past 3.5 years and is approaching the record highs of 2021–2022. The index, which reflects the average market cost of shipping a 40-foot container on the Shanghai–moscow route, rose by 6% in July and by 17% compared to May, reaching $9,531.

As of August 1, the volume of monetary gold in russia’s international reserves decreased by 0.2 million troy ounces – to 73.2 million ounces. This is the lowest level since January 2020. russia’s gold reserves have been declining since the beginning of the year. As of January 1, the figure stood at 74.8 million ounces. Each month, reserves decreased by an average of 0.2–0.3 million ounces.

Production of fire trucks in russia has decreased by 19%.

In mid-August 2026, the year-on-year increase in the retail price of buckwheat in russia reached 11.2%. This year’s harvest may be by 100,000 tons less than what is needed for the domestic market and exports.

Demand for travel within russia in the summer of 2026 fell by 19%.

Beauty salons are closing en masse in russia: in January through June 2026, 12,300 businesses in the beauty services sector ceased operations, which is by 52.5% more than during the same period a year earlier. At this, the number of new business registrations in the industry fell by 16.1%. The rise in the number of liquidations is directly linked to the increased tax burden.

“akron”’s net profit fell by 14% in the first half of the year. The company’s net debt rose to 124.7 billion rubles from 115.04 billion rubles at the end of 2025. The “akron” group is one of russia’s largest producers of mineral fertilizers.

In russia, the growth in the share of domestically bred seeds has slowed down. “We’ve slowed down a bit; it’s noticeable (in the creation of new varieties and hybrids). We’re now reaching a plateau where it will be difficult to make further progress in terms of the effectiveness of our seeds,” said minister of agriculture of the rf oksana lut.

According to data for the last three months of 2025, the price per square meter of housing in kaliningrad region reached its highest level in recorded history. Flats on the secondary market rose in price to 136,342 rubles per square meter in 2025, compared to 97,471 rubles the year before last.

In st. petersburg, following moscow’s lead, restrictions on petrol sales at filling stations have been introduced.

Since the beginning of 2026, the number of business closures in st. petersburg’s retail filling station market has exceeded the number of new registrations. The decline in the number of businesses in 2026 was 0.62%, whereas in 2025 the market grew by 6.29%.

russians should accept the fuel shortage in the country with humility and refrain from expressing their dissatisfaction to officials, said archpriest aleksandr butrin of the russian orthodox church. He called on citizens to follow the example of St. Seraphim of Sarov, who, according to him, showed anger only once, when he encountered a person who “raised a hand against the state authorities”.

The fuel crisis and the collapse of hopes for a swift end to the war are increasingly plunging russian society into a gloomy mood. The “happiness index”, calculated monthly by “vtsiom” by asking people whether they are happy and to what extent, fell to 50 points in July 2026—the lowest level since 2011. In a month when russia faced its worst petrol shortage since the collapse of the ussr, the index lost 9 points, marking a record monthly decline since the start of the full-scale war. russians were not this unhappy even in the autumn of 2022 during the mobilization.

russians have begun actively looking for ways to leave the country. In July, the number of related searches on “yandex” reached its highest level since the beginning of 2023, and interest in mobilization nearly tripled over the course of the month. At the same time, russians are finding out which countries they can move to without a visa. For example, the search term “moving” was searched 809,900 times in July, compared to 705,700 times in June – a record high since the first wave of mobilization in the autumn of 2022. The number of searches for “to leave the country” also rose – to approximately 1.3 million per month. Besides, in July, russians searched for the term “mobilization” more than 3.4 million times, compared to nearly 1.3 million in June (+166%). This is the highest figure since January 2023.

During anti-terrorist drills held yesterday all over russia, kindergarteners in omsk village of tara were forced to lie face-down on the floor.

Authorities of belarus have decided to drastically reduce the number of settlements classified as areas of radioactive contamination. gomel, in particular, is being removed from the list, although experts warn that a change in a territory’s legal status does not in itself mean that radiation risks have disappeared. As a result, at least half a million people will lose their “chornobyl” benefits.