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

Finland has decided to provide Ukraine with its 34th aid package, totaling EUR 290 million. “Ukraine has been fighting a defensive war well into the fifth year now. We support Ukraine because it is the morally right thing to do. This is about the security of all of Europe, and therefore of Finland as well,” said President of Finland Alexander Stubb.

Germany will allocate an additional EUR 1 million to improve safety at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.

The Rules Committee of the US House of Representatives has approved a bipartisan bill co-authored by Senators Graham and Blumenthal aimed at increasing sanctions pressure on russia.

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on the European Democracy Shield, which identifies russia as the main external threat to Europe’s security and democratic integrity and proposes expanding sanctions against individuals and entities involved in russian disinformation, cyberattacks, and election interference. “russia is the main external threat to Europe’s security and democratic integrity,” the resolution states.

Prime Minister of Latvia Andris Kulbergs has emphasized that thanks to Ukraine, Europe now has time to prepare for a possible confrontation with russia, but this time is being misused. According to him, every day should be used to prepare for the worst-case scenario, and only then will there be peace. At the same time, he believes that Brussels is beginning to realize the security threat that russia poses to the European Union.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte believes that russia’s strike on a passenger train locomotive in Ukraine near the border with Poland demonstrates putin’s desperation.

“russia is becoming increasingly aggressive and arrogant; it has intensified its hybrid war against Europe. It is testing and challenging NATO. russia seeks to intimidate and sow discord,” said Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radosław Sikorski has emphasized that his country is preparing “serious” responses to the rf’s provocations.

The USA has imposed a new round of sanctions against “vtb” bank, having accused the russian lender of facilitating the circumvention of sanctions against Iran.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany has stated that russians of draft age are subject to thorough screening when applying for Schengen visas.

For decades, russia’s economy has been experiencing a massive outflow of capital abroad, which over the past quarter-century has exceeded 100% of GDP, according to estimates by the government-affiliated center for macroeconomic analysis and forecasting. According to the center’s estimates, over the past 10 years, the rf’s real sector has lost 3% of GDP annually due to capital outflows. And the total outflow from the economy over the past three decades has averaged 4–5% of GDP per year.

The number of bookings at russian travel agencies during the summer months fell by 12% year-on-year. This is due to a general slowdown in the market following disruptions in air travel and fuel supplies within russia.

Net profit at “tarkett”, russia’s largest laminate flooring manufacturer, fell by 20.2%.

The number of new sellers on marketplaces decreased by one-third over the summer.

In the first eight months of 2026, 21,200 companies in the food service industry were liquidated in russia. This is by 29.4% more than last year. At the same time, the market continues to lose customers, while demand for restaurant franchises has fallen by 43%.

In russia, following the tightening of family mortgage terms, demand for mass-market new construction may drop by 30–50%. In a stress scenario, the decline could reach as much as 70%.

In August 2026, demand for mass-market new construction in moscow fell to its lowest level in the past nine years. Over the course of the month, buyers signed approximately 900 shared-ownership agreements – the lowest figure since 2017.

In moscow, the supply of new shopping centers exceeded demand 4-fold.

Regional authorities in russia are cutting payments for deaths in the war with Ukraine amid mounting problems in local budgets, which ended last year with a record deficit of 1.5 trillion rubles. In recent months, at least six regions of the rf have drastically reduced “funeral” payments, while orenburg region has cancelled  them entirely.

In russia’s regions, officials who fail to meet recruitment quotas for contract soldiers for the war against Ukraine are being fined. At least 60 such court rulings have been reported. Operational headquarters are setting quotas for municipalities regarding the number of residents who must sign contracts with the ministry of defense of the rf. If the required number of people is not recruited, the responsible official may find themselves in the dock.

belarusian businesses owe their russian counterparties nearly $4 billion.

The debts of belarusian companies have increased by 16.3% year-on-year.

YouTube has blocked the account of the belarusian TV channel stv. In addition, “radio stolitsa”, “first channel of belarusian radio”, and “radio kultura BY” have been blocked – all of them are part of the belarusian state television and radio company. A previous wave of account suspensions occurred in April – YouTube removed the channels of the state news agency BELTA, as well as the pro-government TV channel ont.

In belarus, at least 1,083 people, including 252 women, have been convicted since 2021 under the article on “facilitating extremist activity”.