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

The United Kingdom has announced its largest-ever package of drone supplies for Ukraine, which includes the delivery of at least 120,000 drones this year. The new military aid package will include thousands of long-range strike drones, reconnaissance drones, logistics drones and maritime assets that have already been battle-tested on the front line in Ukraine. Deliveries of the new UAVs have already begun this month. “In recent weeks, attention has been focused on the Middle East – putin wants to divert our attention, but Ukrainians continue to fight with tremendous courage, and nothing will make us turn away from them until we secure peace,” said Defence Secretary John Healey.

“…These aircraft (F-16s) are already owned by Ukraine; they are being repaired and maintained by technicians in Belgium, under an agreement concluded with the participation of the USA and Ukraine. I believe the first of these aircraft will be ready for service soon,” said Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre regarding the repair of the first of six F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine.

Ukraine and Norway have signed a declaration on strengthening cooperation in the field of defence and security.

Germany will finance a contract between Ukraine and the US company Raytheon for the supply of several hundreds of missiles for Patriot air defence systems.

The European Union will allocate EUR 1.07 billion to implement 57 new projects under the European Defence Fund, in which Ukrainian companies will also participate.

Italy has proposed including security guarantees for Kyiv in the peace plan for Ukraine, modelled on Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. This was announced by Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni.

EU Commissioner for the Economy Valdis Dombrovskis is going to call on Japan, the United Kingdom and the USA this week to speed up payments to Ukraine under the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) mechanism. The total loan amount stands at EUR 45 billion, of which the EU has already paid its share in full – EUR 18.1 billion. At the same time, about EUR 7 billion has not yet been funded by those countries.

European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius will visit France on 16 April as part of a “missile tour” aimed at finding additional sources to support Ukraine with ammunition.

Iceland and Poland have confirmed their readiness to join the agreement on the establishment of a Special Tribunal to investigate russia's Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine.

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The administration of US President Donald Trump has not extended the temporary easing of sanctions that allowed the legal sale of russian oil and petroleum products loaded onto vessels before  March 12, 2026.

The White House administration has officially informed Congress that Cuba has sent up to 5,000 fighters to russia to take part in the war against Ukraine, and is also providing “diplomatic and political support to moscow”. “Citizens of Cuba have become one of the largest identified groups of foreign fighters supporting russia’s military operations in Ukraine,” states the report sent to key committees of the US Congress.

In Estonia, work has begun on digging a 20-kilometre anti-tank trench in the Setomaa municipality, which borders pskov region of the rf.

In Kyrgyzstan, all russian-language names of settlements will be phased out within the next 1–2 years. This announcement was made by President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov. Instead, the settlements will be given Kyrgyz names. According to him, this process has  to be completed by the end of 2027.

In March 2026, russia reduced its railway shipments of fuel oil for export via ports and border crossings by 5% compared with the previous month.

In 2025, russian rating agencies doubled the number of negative rating actions against companies compared to 2024 and expect an increase in the number of defaults on the bond market this year.

A large-scale program to revive the aviation industry, from which the kremlin expected hundreds of domestic aircraft to replace Western ones, has been postponed once again. The updated plan for the “united aircraft corporation” envisages the production of around 570 aircraft for russian airlines by 2035. The initial civil aviation development program, adopted in 2022, required that by 2030 there would be over 1,000 domestic aircraft in the country.

One of russia’s largest lift manufacturers has found itself on the brink of bankruptcy due to a fall in order volumes. “Meteor Lift Shcherbinka” JSC is part of the Meteor Lift group of companies, which was established using the assets of the American company Otis, which left the rf. Problems are also being observed at another Meteor Lift enterprise – “meteor lift moskva” JSC. The company’s net loss rose by 32%, to 238.3 million roubles.

Vodka sales in the rf rose by 4.95% in March. In an effort to save money, russians are opting for stronger drinks. Vodka is seen as a more affordable alternative to whisky, brandy and cognac, which have become more expensive. Last year russians switched to a frugal lifestyle due to the sharp economic slowdown and began cutting back on spending on food, medicines, as well as clothes and footwear. The majority of russians (82%) are concerned about the economic situation in the country and expect that over the coming year, prices for food and utilities will rise faster than their incomes.

In the first three months of 2026, 483 bank departments closed in russia.

The proportion of russian women who visit a gynaecologist annually for preventive check-ups has fallen from 76% to 58% over the past ten years. One of the main reasons cited is saving on medical services.

There is no vaccine in russia that protects against the B strain of meningococcal infection. Although such a vaccine is registered in the country, it is practically not supplied. At the same time, serogroup B is considered endemic in the rf. In 2025, between January and May, the long-term average incidence of meningococcal infection in russia increased 3.8-fold.

russian mobile operators have begun detecting active VPN services on clients’ phones. Besides, the Ozon marketplace and the “yandex.Pay” service have started restricting access to users with VPNs enabled. The online cinema platforms “kinopoisk” and “wink” have also stopped working when a VPN is active.

“In 2025, the rf nationalized the assets of 32 strategic enterprises worth 2.5 trillion roubles,” said prosecutor general aleksandr gutsan. According to him, the list included enterprises in the oil and gas sector, as well as port and transport infrastructure. “Their foreign owners acted against russia’s interests, transferred dividends abroad, evaded taxes,” and also “sponsored the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other anti-russian activities,” stated gutsan. He added that the nationalization of businesses would continue. The prosecutor general also supported the initiative granting law enforcement agencies extrajudicial access to russians’ smartphones.

russia’s ministry of justice has proposed revoking the residence permits of relatives of foreign nationals participating in the aggression against Ukraine as part of the rf’s armed forces, should they speak out in favour of a change of government in the country.

Around half of tatarstan’s bomb shelters are closed, flooded or lack basic equipment. These are the basements of residential buildings, which serve as the primary means of protection for 90% of the republic’s residents. Repairing one shelter costs 6 million roubles; there are no federal subsidies, and local authorities cannot cope with the financial burden. Meanwhile, on 15 April, the state council of tatarstan passed, in its first and final readings, a draft law on social guarantees for the heads of municipal districts and urban districts. They will now receive additional payments and benefits. The adopted law provides for an annual payment to heads of districts equivalent to two monthly salaries prior to their annual leave, compensation for sanatorium and resort treatment and travel to the holiday destination, as well as a one-off retirement bonus amounting to 10 monthly salaries. In addition, a subsidy for the purchase of housing is provided.

prime minister of the republic of tatarstan aleksei pesoshin has reported that the largest share of loss-making companies in the region is accounted for by enterprises involved in the manufacture of vehicles, food products, wholesale and retail trade, as well as transport and storage. The decline in profits is accompanied by a significant increase in losses – to 254.1 billion roubles, which is 3.9 times more than in 2024. Besides, tensions persist in the labour market: despite the large number of vacancies, there is a shortage of staff in all sectors.

Kazan bakery No. 3 reported a loss for the first time in 20 years at the end of last year. The company lost 94.5 million rubles.

An exhibition themed “Ten Centuries of Polish Russophobia” has opened at the site of the mass execution of Polish prisoners of war in Katyn.

Poland’s Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has declared full control over the situation on the border with belarus. According to him, the effectiveness of detentions and the prevention of illegal crossings of the Polish-belarusian border has now reached 100%.

minsk’s decision to declare the European Humanities University – an accredited belarusian university in exile in Vilnius – an “extremist organisation” is outrageous. This was the comment made by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys on the decision of the supreme court of belarus.

Lithuania’s Seimas has voted to extend restrictions on citizens of belarus and russia.

Authorities of minsk had hoped to secure a seat on the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations of the UN Economic and Social Council, but were unsuccessful. Estonia and Ukraine were elected to the Committee from the Eastern European region. Estonia received 44 votes, Ukraine – 38, belarus – 23.

belarus systematically violates the right to freedom of expression, as noted by the UN Human Rights Committee.

In belarus, users have begun to complain of internet outages, particularly in minsk. According to reports, neither mobile internet nor Wi-Fi is working, and the problems are worsening in the evening and at night. Among the main reasons cited is the testing of new traffic filtering mechanisms in the country.