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

The Council of the EU has approved the release of the eighth tranche to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility program. “The tranche approved today demonstrates Ukraine’s successful implementation of ten targeted measures. To date, Ukraine has completed 84 out of 95 targeted measures set out in the plan, which represents approximately 88% of the measures scheduled for this stage,” reads the Council of the EU’s statement. In total, our country will receive nearly EUR 3 billion in European aid through the latest tranches in the near future.

Since 2024, the European Union has transferred to Ukraine a portion of the proceeds from frozen russian assets amounting to EUR 8 billion.

The EU will impose sanctions against 77 candidates for the russian state duma in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Norway plans to allocate 85 billion Norwegian kroner (about $9 billion) next year to support Ukraine.

European partners have confirmed funding of at least 15 million US dollars for the purchase of plastic sleeves for grain storage in Ukraine.

Switzerland will allocate 3 million Swiss francs for the temporary storage of grain as part of the FAO project in Ukraine, and a further 6 million francs for the development of the organic sector over the next three years.

Finland and Ukraine have signed an agreement on enhanced cooperation in the field of defence and security, known as the Drone Deal, which paves the way for cooperation between the two countries in the field of defence materiel.

The government of Finland has supported the establishment of a Special Tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

OpenAI will provide the Ukrainian government with the Daybreak AI-based cyber defence system free of charge. It is intended to help protect civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and power stations, from cyberattacks.

Fifty countries and the European Union issued a joint statement at the UN in support of Ukraine, calling on russia to cease fire.

Participants in the Sixth Summit of the International Crimea Platform (60 states and international organizations) have called on the international community to continue supporting Ukraine and to step up sanctions pressure on russia.

President of Poland Karol Nawrocki has called on the international community to respond decisively, consistently and collectively to the actions of russia, which is waging war against Ukraine and destabilizing Europe.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the FRG Johann Wadephul has warned of an escalation in russia’s aggression against Europe. “This is not an isolated example of reckless and dangerous escalation by russia in Europe, and we must not forget that the consequences of this war are being felt throughout the world,” said Wadephul.

“No country is immune to the consequences of war. russia’s war is harming our own citizens, and russian attacks on Black Sea ports and commercial vessels are threatening global food supplies. russia continues to carry out reckless hybrid actions, such as the recent incident at Leipzig Airport,” said Ed Miliband, the UK’s Foreign Secretary.

The international community must use economic, diplomatic and political tools to raise the cost of the war for russia, force it to end its aggression against Ukraine and bring it to the negotiating table. This was stated by President of Estonia Alar Karis.

President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs has emphasized that his country will continue to make every possible effort to secure the return of Ukrainian children deported to russia: “These children have been taken away from their families, communities and country. We know of such things from the darkest pages of history. Today, it is happening again. These children must return home now.”

“We have said this before and we repeat it again: Romania will stand with Ukraine and its people as they exercise their legitimate right to self-defence for as long as it takes,” emphasised President of Romania Nicușor Dan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic has tightened the rules governing the movement of diplomats from russia. They must now notify the authorities of their plans to cross the Czech border one day before their journey, specifying the purpose of the visit, their place of residence, places of stay and mode of transport. “If every Czech diplomat in russia is required to report their movements, then naturally the same will apply to russian diplomats here,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechia Petr Macinka.

Representative of the European Commission Arianna Podesta has stated that russian citizens can overthrow putin’s regime to end the war against Ukraine and bring about change within their own country. “It is up to the russian people themselves whether they will have a government that supports this war or not. Therefore, if russian citizens are feeling the consequences of this war first-hand, they have the opportunity to take action against it within their own country,” said Podesta.

In Latvia, the National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP) has banned the belarusian radio station “radio belarus” from broadcasting within the country.

For the third year in a row, russia’s authorities intend to increase the tax burden on citizens and businesses in order to fill the federal budget, which spends up to half of all funds on the war and will have a deficit of almost 7 trillion rubles this year. In particular, there are plans to raise taxes on income from deposits, dividends and the sale of property.

In August, production of petroleum products in the rf fell by 1.9% compared with July, whilst the year-on-year decline stood at 17.8%.

The pace of winter grain sowing in russia this season is the slowest since 2013. As of 18 September, winter grains had been sown across 6.1 million hectares in russia, compared with 7.1 million hectares a year earlier. The current sowing rate is by 14% lower than last year’s and by 25% lower than the five-year average.

This season, export restrictions in russia have already led to a fall in wheat prices – 20–30% below the break-even point.

The number of countries importing russian wheat this season is decreasing with each month coming, and in September stands at 8, whereas a year earlier, 26 countries had purchased grain from russia by the end of the second ten-day period of the month.

Millions of self-employed russians, who pay income tax at a reduced rate of 4–6%, will become the next source of revenue for the budget, which this year has a deficit of almost 7 trillion rubles. The tax rate for the self-employed will be raised to the level of personal income tax – that is, two to three times the current rate.

From January 1, the vehicle disposal fee in the rf will rise by 10–20%. This is a planned increase: in 2024, the authorities announced that the fee would be indexed annually until 2030. Since 2019, the fee has risen 40-fold: from 20,000 rubles to at least 800,000 this year. From the new year, following the next indexation, the minimum fee for foreign cars with an engine capacity of up to 100 liters will approach 1 million rubles. One million is already half the cost of a budget car and almost a third of the average cost of a new car on the russian market. The weighted average price of a new car has risen from 1.68 million in 2020 to 3.29 million this year. Prices have been rising for the third month in a row, and by the end of the year the average cost of a car could reach 3.7–3.8 million rubles, which is by 8–11% higher than at the start of the year.

From January through June 2026, the net increase in retail space for major food retailers in russia fell by 46.2%.

Pollock, the most common fish in russia, has risen in price by 59.3% at wholesale level over the past year.

russia plans to introduce a charge for international internet traffic on its recently launched 5G network. The charge is to be levied once the 50 GB limit on international traffic is exceeded. It could be introduced as early as October 1.

head of the federal project on security and anti-corruption vitaly borodin has proposed banning all concerts in russia until the end of the war. Under his plan, local government officials are to refuse to grant organizers permission to hold events, citing security concerns.

chair of the federation council committee on budget and financial markets andrey yepishin has proposed raising the tax rate for the self-employed, as he believes that self-employed individuals who effectively work full-time for companies pay less tax than they would if they were employed under a contract.