April 19, 2025 Ukraine and the World – Against russia’s Aggression. Sanctions in Action

Germany has handed over another tranche of military aid to Ukraine, which includes: three 155-mm Zuzana 2 self-propelled artillery systems; four Kinetic Defense Vehicle mobile air defense systems; six Bergerpanzer 2 armored personnel carriers; 66 MRAP FFG armored vehicles; four WISENT 1 demining vehicles; 27 thousand 155-mm artillery shells;   one thousand 122 mm shells; 70 VECTOR reconnaissance drones, 150 HF-1 drones, 917 RGW 90 grenade launchers; 150 thousand tourniquets; 41 ground radars; rifles; infrared binoculars; laser rangefinders; sleeping bags; and more.

“Even on Good Friday, there are more deaths and destruction due to russian attacks. Kharkiv, Sumy, Kyiv: civilians, including children, are again targeted. putin does not want peace, he can only be forced to it. That is why we must strengthen Ukraine and increase pressure on russia,” said Minister of Defence of the Netherlands Ruben Brekelmans.

Ukraine will receive from Japan a loan of  471.9 billion Japanese yen (about three billion US dollars) under the G7's Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine (ERA) program.  The loan  will be repaid by  proceeds from  frozen russian assets.

Ukraine will receive  additional $84 million from the World Bank to finance “eVidnovlennia” program for compensation for damaged housing.

Ukraine has received the last 20 out of 200  KIA BONGO ambulances as part of a humanitarian donation from the Government of the Republic of Korea

“European Ministers of Foreign Affairs  will meet in Kyiv on May 9... I will definitely be there,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noel Barrot.

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The United States has rejected russia’s proposal to resume direct flights between the two countries.

The EU does not intend to grant access to its airspace to russian airlines.

The Lithuanian Seimas has toughened  national sanctions against russian and belarusian citizens, adding a provision to revoke russians’ residence permits for visiting the rf or the rb.

The total number of individuals currently under British sanctions has reached 3,463, of which 2,001 (46 % of all) are from russia. In addition, the British authorities have tripled the number of investigations into violations of anti-russian sanctions, having initiated more than 200 new cases over the year. The sanctions pressure has caused financial losses to russia for over $400 billion. By the end of 2024, the total amount of assets frozen in the UK due to anti-russian sanctions exceeded £25 billion, which is more than the value of all frozen assets in the country in 2023.

Over the past year, 70 % of all cases of inclusion in the US blacklist were related to anti-russian sanctions. For example, in 2024, 2,196 entities were added to the SDN-list on the basis of “connection with russia”, of which 1,681 were russian citizens and organizations (including more than 50 banks), and the rest came from 55 countries. russia also ranked second in terms of the number of companies (147) that fell under US export control. In addition, the US sanctions against the russian oil industry affected more than 180 vessels involved in circumventing the restrictions.

Faced with a sharp tightening of lending, russians began to borrow money from banks on a massive scale on the security of  real estate. In 2024, credit institutions issued  by 45 % more such loans than a year earlier. This year, the trend continues to gain momentum: in March alone, russians received about RUB 2 billion in loans secured by real estate. This is by 34 % more than a month earlier. The average  amount of this kind of loan was RUB 1.7 million.

Easter pastries in russia went up by 36 % in retail price.

rospotrebnadzor has banned the opening of the swimming season in Anapa due to a fuel oil spill.

Lithuania will seek to prevent the belarusian national team from participating in the European Futsal Championship. “It’s clear that we won’t play with them and they won’t be here in Lithuania. My position on this will be strict”, said President of the Lithuanian Football Federation Edgaras Stankevičius.

The ministry of antimonopoly regulation and trade of the rb has stated that the rise in prices on the consumer market is caused by higher import prices due to high inflation in russia.

Artificial price controls in belarus are causing big problems for retail chains. According to official statistics alone, in  2023 – 2024, trade credit arrears increased by  8 to 12 billion rubles (by 50 %), while  suppliers’ debts to retail chains doubled. Large debts may lead to the closure of many belarusian retail chains and bankruptcy of entrepreneurs.

Fuel prices in the rb have risen for the sixth time since the beginning of the year and for the fifth time in the last month.