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

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated that the number of civilian deaths in Ukraine as a result of russia’s war is currently at its highest level since May 2022. He emphasized the need to provide support to Ukraine “as soon as possible”, as delays cost human lives. According to him, last year, allied countries allocated more than $10 billion to the PURL initiative and bought US weapons for Ukraine’s defense needs.

Ukraine will purchase IRIS-T guided missiles from Germany using funds from an EU loan.

Ukraine is signing contracts for approximately 1,000 missiles for Patriot air defense missile systems.

Following the “Ramstein”’s 36th meeting, the partners announced new contributions to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield.

Germany will transfer to Ukraine PAC-2 interceptor missiles from its own arsenals and is calling on other countries to follow its example. “I call on all UDCG members to review their own stockpiles and make similar deliveries,” said Minister of Defence of Germany Boris Pistorius. He also announced the launch of the “City Dome” project, which aims to create a shield to protect Ukrainian cities from russian missile and drone attacks.

The United Kingdom will allocate 100 million pounds for the supply of US weapons through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) mechanism and will ensure the delivery of an additional 95,000 drones by the end of the year, as well as tens of thousands of extended-range artillery shells funded by other countries.

The Netherlands has announced a $300 million contribution to the “Drone Line” project and the transfer of 300 anti-UAV missiles.

Estonia will continue to support Ukraine in 2027 at a level of at least 0.25% of GDP.

Norway will provide the previously announced $200 million package for the purchase of Patriot missiles.

Spain will allocate EUR 2 million for fuel through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. Spanish support will also include deliveries of air defense missiles and artillery ammunition.

Lithuania has announced a $10 million contribution to PURL.

Poland is preparing a new aid package worth EUR 50 million, which will include, among other things, air defense systems.

Sweden will provide a $28 million support package, including a $14 million contribution to PURL.

“I don’t want to be overly optimistic, but I’m not a pessimist either… In my opinion, in the coming weeks there will be an opportunity to develop a roadmap for the next steps toward resuming negotiations and, perhaps, to reach a conclusion that will be acceptable to both sides, since that is exactly what is needed for this (war) to end,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, describing the talks held by Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Kyiv and moscow as substantive.

Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová condemned the russian strike on Kyiv on the afternoon of September 8, which severely damaged the headquarters of the “We Are Ukraine” TV channel. “Journalists should not be targeted. Newsrooms are not battlefields. Against this background, I welcome the European Commission’s decision to approve Ukraine’s request to purchase Patriot interceptors under the Ukraine Support Loan, totaling approximately EUR 3.2 billion, to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense. The EU will not look the other way. russia must be stopped,” she emphasized.

The General Court of the EU dismissed Hungary’s lawsuit challenging the allocation of proceeds from frozen assets of the russian central bank to Ukraine’s defense.

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The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed russian oligarch roman abramovich’s lawsuit challenging his inclusion on the sanctions lists and upheld the sanctions against him.

Prime Minister of Estonia Kristen Michal has pointed out that russia has exported only insignificant amounts of grain through Estonia and that any further exports will be unacceptable. “Estonia’s position is clear: russia’s use of Estonian ports to export its grain cannot be considered acceptable. russia bears full responsibility for the security situation in the Black Sea, which has seriously disrupted both Ukrainian and russian grain exports. It would be cynical if russia were simultaneously able to reroute its grain exports through Baltic ports,” Michal said. According to the Prime Minister, Estonia is discussing a joint approach with Latvia and Lithuania to restrict the transit of russian and belarusian grain.

“The russians may believe that this will intimidate the population and limit its influence on the political leadership. The Germans counted on this when they bombed either Coventry or London. The Allies also counted on this to some extent when they bombed Hamburg, Berlin, or Dresden. And in both cases, it proved counterproductive. “When people are attacked, they rally around their government,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski regarding russia’s round-the-clock airstrikes on Kyiv.

Norway has sent home 69 russian citizens who were aboard the vessel “professor molchanov,” which was detained in Svalbard.

Kyrgyzstan, following Kazakhstan’s lead, has tightened residency rules for russians.

In russia, the federal budget deficit for the first eight months exceeded the annual target by 53%.

russia’s federal tax service will gain the right to track the devices of digital ruble holders. Starting in July 2027, IP and MAC addresses, phone numbers, SIM card numbers, and other device identifiers will be included in reports submitted to the tax service.

The large-scale sale of gold bullion from its reserves, which the bank of russia began in 2026, has made it the world’s largest seller of gold among all central banks. According to the World Gold Council (WGC), in the second quarter, the central bank of the rf sold 21.77 tons of the precious metal from its foreign exchange reserves.

In russia, the pace of selling off the property of mortgage debtors is accelerating. Since 2022, the number of flats, rooms, and real estate shares sold in this way has nearly tripled – banks have tightened control over mortgage holders and are preparing for a rise in debt.

russia’s authorities may decide not to repair marketplace warehouses that have been attacked. The authorities and marketplaces must decide what to do with the logistics centers by the end of the year.

russians subject to military conscription have begun to be denied passports for travel abroad due to restrictions imposed by military commissariats.

In russia, losses incurred by shopping centers due to groups of teenagers in food courts can reach 10 million rubles per year. In a 200-seat food court, a group of 12 people who stay for two to three hours can cause losses of up to 20,000 rubles.

In late August, the vegetables included in the borscht set cost, on average, by 20–38% more at retail in russia than a year earlier.

In russia, production of frozen, dried, salted, and smoked shellfish, as well as products in brine, fell by 23.7% compared to the previous year.

Investment in fixed assets in russia fell by 9.9% year-on-year in the first half of the year. The downward trend has continued for the fifth consecutive quarter.

“kamaz”’s losses over the past two years have approached 70 billion rubles.

In tyumen region, domestic pigs have begun to be seized for slaughter due to the spread of African swine fever. Earlier, cows, goats, sheep, and pigs were seized en masse from farmers in irkutsk region for disposal.

In novosibirsk region, milk production has fallen by 14%. Industry experts attribute this decline to foot-and-mouth disease. By the end of July, the region’s cattle herd had shrunk by 11.9%, to 307,200 head. The number of cows stood at 128,000 – by 12.1% fewer than a year earlier.

In January–July 2026, owners of companies providing tourist accommodations in adygea and the kamchatka territory recorded the sharpest decline in revenue among russia’s regions. Their revenue fell by 37.7–51.4% year-on-year. This is due to a general decline in interest in active tourism in russia because of its high cost and associated risks.

Losses in the tourism industry in the temporarily occupied Crimea exceeded 4 billion rubles over the past six months. This is by 95.7% more than during the same period last year.

Over the past week, moscow airports imposed temporary restrictions on aircraft landings and takeoffs 29 times. This is by 65% more frequent than before.

In russia, for the first time, a russian citizen was sentenced to 14 years in a maximum-security prison for photographing soldiers’ graves in a cemetery. The court found him guilty of treason. The prosecution for photographing the graves is linked to attempts by the russian authorities to conceal the true scale of their losses in the war against Ukraine.

In Lithuania, following Latvia’s lead, a proposal has been made to completely suspend bus service to belarus.