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

The European Commission has approved a EUR 1.5 billion work program under the European Defense Industrial Program (EDIP) – an instrument designed to integrate Ukraine’s defense industry into the EU’s defense industrial base. Specifically, this includes EUR 260 million from the Ukraine Support Instrument (USI), which will help restore and modernize Ukraine’s defense technology and industrial base (DTIB) by investing in joint projects that increase production capacity in both Ukraine and Europe.

The UK government has announced the urgent allocation of additional £100 million (EUR 115 million) to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense.

The government of Latvia has decided to provide Ukraine with a new aid package worth EUR 6.8 million, which will help strengthen Ukraine’s energy grid, shelters, infrastructure, social and civil resilience, as well as its capabilities in the use of drones. “Latvia will always stand with Ukraine,” emphasized the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Baiba Braže.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that the USA is not redirecting to the Middle East the weapons purchased by NATO countries for Ukraine.

“What has been promised to Ukraine must reach Ukraine,” said Minister of Defence of Finland Antti Häkkänen, pledging to ensure that weapons paid for by NATO countries for the Ukrainian army are delivered as intended.

“If the USA’s support wanes, Canada should increase its contributions to support Ukraine,” said Minister of International Trade of Canada Ed Fast.

Prime Minister of Finland Petteri Orpo insists that Europe take on more responsibility for conducting peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.

“As Türkiye, we once again inform all parties that we are ready in every respect – both in terms of mediation and in providing a platform, as well as in the matter of bringing this war (the rf against Ukraine) to an end as soon as possible; and we will ensure the necessary communication,” said Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Fuat Oktay.

“No, russia does not uphold international law – neither in Iran, nor in Ukraine, nor anywhere else. One cannot uphold international law by waging a  war of aggression. One cannot uphold international law by invading a neighboring country. One cannot uphold international law by denying the sovereignty of nations. And the unchecked use of force outside any legal framework is nothing less than a barbaric display of brutality… Mr. lavrov (minister of foreign affairs of the rf), if you are looking for evidence of hypocrisy, look no further – it is in your own camp,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noël Barrot publicly accused the russian foreign minister of lying and spreading propaganda regarding Ukraine, international law, and media freedom.

“…Even when we have UAVs flying over EU member states, russia is the main culprit here. Without russia, this would not have happened,” said European Commission Spokesperson for International Affairs Anitta Hipper regarding the incident involving a UAV crash in Finland.

“A deliberate strike on a maternity hospital is an act of pure inhumanity. It targets the most vulnerable – mothers, newborns, and those bringing new life into the world… In the face of such cruelty, there can be no excuses, no neutrality, and no hesitation,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Margus Tsahkna, commenting on russia’s attack on Odesa on March 28 and calling for increased pressure on the rf.

The European Commission has assured that Iceland’s or Norway’s potential accession to the EU will not hinder Ukraine’s path to membership.

At the request of the EU, the government of Norway has decided to extend the proposal to transport patients from Ukraine for treatment in hospitals in Norway and across Europe until the end of 2027.

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Germany has proposed a coordinated suspension of the recognition of non-biometric russian passports at the EU level. The proposal, aimed at strengthening border security and closing legal loopholes, was supported by the Czech Republic, Finland, Poland, and Romania.

President of Poland Karol Nawrocki has called russia a regime of corruption and violence that threatens Europe and destroys neighboring countries.

“Under no circumstances should russia – a country subject to broad European Union sanctions – be allowed to participate in an event funded by European taxpayers,” MEPs wrote in a letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, which currently holds the EU Council presidency, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, and a number of other high-ranking officials, urging them to prevent russia’s participation in the Venice Biennale.

Lithuania plans to establish an additional counter-mobility zone to protect its borders with belarus and russia’s kaliningrad region.

russians’ idea of a decent pension differs radically from reality. According to a study, the average pension amount that people consider “decent” is 53,500 rubles per month, which is 2.1 times higher than the actual payments received by 40 million russian pensioners – 25,255 rubles per month. Last year, according to official statistics, the average pension in the country increased by 9%, or approximately 2,000 rubles. However, virtually all of the indexation carried out by the state was wiped out by inflation.

russian authorities will ban the sale of petrol for export starting April 1 for all market participants.

More than 60% of russian banks reported a decline in revenue or losses in February. In quantitative terms, this amounts to approximately 200 banks that have been operating for more than two years. The difficulties first of all affected small and medium-sized credit institutions, as well as nearly all banks with non-resident shareholders.

The total number of retail outlets in the rf began to desrease for the first time in 25 years. At the beginning of 2026, in moscow alone, there were by 4,500 fewer shops  than at the start of 2025; in st. petersburg, the number decreased by 3,000 shops over the same period.

russia is seeing an increase in the number of outages at data centers (DCs) that were commissioned 10–15 years ago. The main reasons cited are the end of the equipment’s lifecycle, shortages, and restrictions on the supply of foreign-made equipment. One-fifth of data centers have already deteriorated to a “pre-failure” state.

One of the largest fashion retailers, O'stin, closed 62 retail locations in 2025 – 2.6 times more than the previous year. At the same time, the number of employees decreased by 15%. In 2026, the retailer will continue to close shops, in order to optimize operations amid declining profitability due to rising logistics and tax costs, as well as falling revenue.

The russian marketplace lamoda, which specializes in selling clothing and footwear, reduced its workforce by 10% in 2025.

“transneft”’s net profit in 2025 fell by 21% due to Western sanctions against the russian energy sector, a decline in cargo turnover, and an increase in the tax burden.

“nizhnekamskneftekhim”’s profit fell by 40% in 2025.

The st. petersburg stock exchange’s net loss in 2025 rose to 675 million rubles.

The net profit of producer of sparkling and still wines abrau-durso fell by 36.5% in 2025.

At the end of 2025, the russian state transport leasing company reported a net loss of 5.95 billion rubles. Revenue fell by 17.5%.

The profit of russia’s only microelectronics foundry “svetlana-rost” fell by 40% at the end of 2025.

russians who use Apple devices and services will no longer be able to top up their Apple ID balance from their mobile account. This is a new “initiative” by the russian ministry of digital development, communications, and mass media, which the agency has communicated to the “big four” mobile operators as a demand to disable this option. The “innovation” will take effect on April 1, 2026.

russia has seen a sharp increase in the number of diagnosed cases of chronic hepatitis C. In 2025, 58,200 new cases were registered. This is the highest figure in the last 16 years (a 14% increase year-on-year).

In tatarstan, at the beginning of 2026, production of automobiles, trailers, and semi-trailers fell by 31.8%. In particular, there were also declines in the metallurgy sector, as well as in the production of rubber and plastic goods, furniture, and machinery.

Heavy rainfall led to severe flooding in dagestan. One of the reasons is infrastructure problems (chaotic development and poor storm drainage), which, contrary to officials’ statements, have remained unresolved for years, even though more than 146 million rubles were allocated to fight flooding in 2025 alone, 140 million of which came from the federal budget. Floods and flash floods occur regularly in dagestan. In 2025 alone, makhachkala was flooded twice due to heavy rains: in September and in April.

The disposal of slaughtered livestock in novosibirsk region will contaminate the region’s groundwater. The slaughter sites were set up with numerous violations, so disposal products could seep deep into the soil and end up in the water people use for daily needs. Police checkpoints are still in place in the towns where the livestock was slaughtered. Security forces are prohibiting people from taking photos and videos.