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

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has reported that Ukraine has submitted a request to the European Commission to use several billion euros from a loan totaling EUR 90 billion to purchase PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot air defense systems. She also assured that russia would not succeed in intimidating Ukraine’s partners through hybrid attacks. “…We stand united. Europe and NATO will not only continue to put pressure on russia – we will intensify it. And we will not stop until russia ceases bombing and killing innocent children, men, and women in Ukraine,” she emphasized.

“Next week, I will establish a new high-level defense group, which will include high-ranking political and military leaders from several EU countries, as well as from the United Kingdom and Ukraine,” said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas following an informal meeting of EU Ministers of Defence  in Ireland.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos hopes that all negotiation clusters for Ukraine will be opened as soon as possible.

“We want to help lower food prices so that more people have reliable access to food. To this end, we support the transit of Ukrainian grain,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Oana Cioiu.

Ukraine and Lithuania will strengthen their cooperation on grain exports, storage, and fighting the illegal trade in stolen agricultural products.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys has called on the EU to resume discussions on using frozen russian assets to support Ukraine.

At an informal meeting of Minisers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union in Ireland, Sweden will raise the issue of using frozen russian assets.

“We see russia’s attempt to divide us in Europe and dissuade us from supporting Ukraine… And I say this very clearly on behalf of the United Kingdom today: this attempt will fail because we will stand up to russian aggression, we will stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends in Ukraine – with the people of Ukraine, with the government of Ukraine – just as we have done since russia’s invasion in 2022, until they prevail in this conflict,” said Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Ed Miliband.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) fined the London branch of the US  bank CBNA London 4.7 million pounds for violating sanctions rules against russia.

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Minister of the Interior of the FRG Alexander Dobrindt and Minister of Foreign Affairs of  Germany Johann Wadephul have presented the results of the investigation into the incident at Leipzig Airport on the night of August 5. A drone carrying explosives was discovered near a Ukrainian military transport aircraft. According to Dobrindt, the organizers and perpetrators of this “hybrid attack” acted on behalf of russian state agencies. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany  Johann Wadephul has  accused putin of exacerbating tensions between the two countries. “The russian leadership has deliberately decided to worsen our already extremely strained relations,” he stated. Wadephul has emphasized that Germany will continue to support Ukraine, and German authorities will take measures to make it more difficult for russia to carry out new operations in Germany and other European countries. Germany will insist on tightening sanctions against russia, tightening entry controls for russian citizens, and increasing pressure on its “shadow fleet.”.  Germany will also close the rf’s consulate general in Bonn as of September 18 and the “russian house” in Berlin, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany.

The European Union and NATO will step up pressure on russia following the drone incident in Leipzig. This was stated by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. According to her, this incident signals a new escalation by russia in European countries.

“The evidence is clear. And I welcome the measures announced by Germany in response. NATO will continue to strengthen our ability to deter and defend all Alliance members against any threats – in particular, malicious actions such as those that occurred in Leipzig and elsewhere within the Alliance,” –  NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expressed his support for Germany in the wake of russia’s hybrid attack in Leipzig.

“We do not seek conflict with russia, but it appears that russia is waging a hybrid war against us. And we need to show putin that he will not succeed in intimidating us,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski, calling for a response to russia’s threats with new EU sanctions. “We must adopt these in response to putin’s attacks in Germany and other countries,” he emphasized.

Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson has announced a meeting of the National Security Council in connection with the German government’s statement regarding russia’s involvement in the appearance of a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig Airport.

“We will not look the other way. We will express our rejection and condemnation by taking appropriate measures in response to such actions,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noël Barrot, who supported Germany’s proposed sanctions in response to the hybrid attack in Leipzig.

The European Union, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Belgium summoned representatives from the russian embassies over the hybrid attack in Leipzig, for which Germany has blamed moscow.

Ukraine is already actively cooperating with Berlin to help Germany counter russian sabotage.

Customers of the Italian bank UniCredit – one of the last Western banks still operating in russia – have begun receiving offers to close all active accounts and cards and transfer funds to other banks. These notifications are being sent by UniCredit’s customer support service.

The Turkish low-cost airline Pegasus has canceled flights between moscow and Türkiye following a warning about the dangers of flying in russian airspace. Turkish Airlines has also canceled two flights from Istanbul to moscow.

putin’s representative for international development boris titov has stated that russia’s economy risks “spiraling out of control” if its management is focused entirely on the needs of the military-industrial complex.

russian oil companies are forced to spend significant sums to protect their refineries from drone attacks, but plant downtime is costing them even more. This was reported by deputy prime minister of the rf aleksandr novak.

Many russian enterprises have already been told about their  insufficient protection against UAV attacks, hinting that the authorities may soon impose “temporary management” at these facilities. A list of such facilities has already been drawn up.

The wholesale price of Atlantic mackerel has risen sharply in russia. Over the past year, it has increased by 64% in the country’s northwest and by 52.7% in central regions. This is due to a decline in catches and higher fishing costs resulting from international restrictions. Retail demand for mackerel has already fallen by 28%.

russians are falling short of their recommended fish intake by nearly 5 kg per year.

Demand for labor in russia remains high, and the labor market continues to face a labor shortage. This was stated by minister of economic development of the rf  maksim reshetnikov.

In August, prices for new construction rose in eight of moscow’s 12 administrative districts.

The psychological well-being of russians leaves much to be desired. Signs of depression were found in 49% of respondents, and signs of anxiety – in 33%. A high level of anxiety and depressive symptoms was recorded in 36% of russians, according to a study by the institute of psychology of  the russian  academy of sciences.

russia’s attempts to quickly create its own satellite constellation – intended to replace Starlink and enable the russian military to strike Ukrainian forces – are failing. None of the satellites from the second batch of the “rassvet” satellites, intended for this purpose, reached the required altitude. The satellites were launched on July 19, but as of August 31, not a single of the 16 satellites was at the planned altitude of 550 km. This is confirmed by data from the N2YO service, which tracks satellites in real time. Many of them ended up at an altitude of 300–400 km; the orbits of some are descending, and at least two are heading toward reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Meanwhile, the operational altitude of the “rassvet” satellites is 870 km.

Smartphone vendors in russia will be required to install “Yandex”’s neural network on their devices, which will have spy-like access to other apps, notifications, and system functions.

russian libraries may lose up to 70% of their books due to current legislation on undesirable organizations and “foreign agents”.

russia is facing a shortage of qualified speech-language pathologists. Currently, more than 75,000 russian schoolchildren suffer from severe speech disorders, and experts believe this number will continue to rise.

In the first two days of the new school year, there have already been three knife attacks in russian schools. On September 2 in new moscow, a fifth-former attempted to attack a teacher; in bashkortostan, a ninth-former injured a classmate. In the krasnoyarsk territory on September 1, a seventh-former attacked a teacher.

The volume of bilateral trade between minsk and Islamabad fell by approximately 20% last year. Earlier, lukashenko had attempted to negotiate with Pakistan’s authorities to organize a mass influx of people (up to 150,000) from Pakistan to belarus. As of May 2026, there were only 324 citizens of Pakistan in belarus.