Sanctions against Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022 have failed so far to significantly alter Russia’s behavior.
Who benefits from Russia’s war in Ukraine
While tens of millions of Europeans have suffered from Russia’s war in Ukraine, a few Russian businesspeople have gotten richer from it. This column documents four distinct trends in this enrichment: through foreign asset takeovers at heavily discounted prices, via companies operating in import-substituting industries, beneficiaries of the war’s disruptive effects on European markets, and beneficiaries of increased domestic demand. Due to these trends, the number of Russian billionaires went up since the start of the war, while billionaires under Western sanctions got wealthier on average too.
Exclusive: 'It felt like a trap.' How Ukraine was blindsided by Trump's Putin pivot
When U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner told Ukraine's delegation on Oct. 9 that President Donald Trump was preparing to lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports, the Ukrainians struggled to believe what they were hearing. The delegation had traveled to the United States to discuss a possible energy ceasefire with Russia. Instead, Kyiv's negotiators found themselves blindsided by a decision they feared would hand Moscow fresh revenue to finance its war against Ukraine while undermining
Exclusive: Putin puts a price on Trump's Ukraine energy truce — Kyiv fears the cost
Russia has demanded sanctions relief from the U.S. as part of talks over a possible energy ceasefire with Ukraine, while also seeking to link the initiative to a ceasefire in the Black Sea, U.S. and Ukrainian officials familiar with the talks told the Kyiv Independent. The demands come as Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, with one senior Ukrainian defense official saying Moscow is trying to inflict as much damage as possible to gain leverage before potential negotia
China urges U.S. to stop threatening sanctions against Chinese AI firms
China urges U.S. to stop threatening sanctions against Chinese AI firms-
La politique monétaire en temps de guerre : le cas de l’Ukraine | Banque de France
Billet de blog n° 372. Depuis le début de l’invasion russe, la Banque nationale d’Ukraine (BNU) a contribué à la résilience de l’économie ukrainienne en utilisant une variété d’instruments pour soutenir l’effort de guerre et répondre aux déséquilibres financiers. Ce billet analyse cet exemple contemporain de banque centrale en temps de guerre à l’aune du concept d’autonomie de la politique monétaire.
The Strange Rise and Fall of Russia’s Crowd Sourced Defense Industry
In the early days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, much that could go wrong did for the Russian military. As one volunteer
Effects of international sanctions on age-specific mortality: a cross-national panel data analysis
Background Previous research has shown a correlation between the imposition of sanctions and worsening health conditions in target countries. However, the direction of causality in this relationship remains unclear. No study has yet examined the effects of sanctions on age-specific mortality rates in cross-country panel data using methods designed to address causal identification in observational data. Methods In this cross-national panel data analysis, we analysed the effect on health of sanctions using a panel dataset of age-specific mortality rates and sanctions episodes for 152 countries between 1971 and 2021. We apply a range of methods designed to address causal questions using observational data, including entropy balancing, Granger causality, event-study representations, and instrumental variables. Findings Our findings showed a significant causal association between sanctions and increased mortality. We found the strongest effects for unilateral, economic, and US sanctions, whereas we found no statistical evidence of an effect for UN sanctions. Mortality effects ranged from 8·4 log points (95% CI 3·9–13·0) for children younger than 5 years to 2·4 log points (0·9–4·0) for individuals aged 60–80 years. We estimated that unilateral sanctions were associated with an annual toll of 564 258 deaths (95% CI 367 838–760 677), similar to the global mortality burden associated with armed conflict. Interpretation Sanctions have substantial adverse effects on public health, with a death toll similar to that of wars. Our findings underscore the need to rethink sanctions as a foreign-policy tool, highlighting the importance of exercising restraint in their use and seriously considering efforts to reform their design. Funding The Center for Economic and Policy Research.
A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them
Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans to invade, and why most of Europe – including the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – dismissed them
South Korea joins growing number of countries imposing sanctions on Prince Group as probe into Cambodian scams widens
The measures are Seoul's first independent sanctions regarding transnational crime and the "largest single sanction measure in history."
How Sweeping Sanctions Missed a Business Partner of the Alleged Head of a Major Asian Crime Organization
The U.S. and U.K. froze many assets of the “Prince Group Transnational Criminal Organization.” But one man sanctioned as an alleged associate has amassed properties and companies using a different identity.
Russian strikes destroy 12 million books ahead of Ukraine's first week back at school - sh.itjust.works
> Russia has hit printing presses and publishing houses across Ukraine in a series of recent attacks, destroying 12 million books and damaging other icons of Ukrainian history and culture. Local media report [https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/articles/2026/08/22/8049865/] that Russia has destroyed one third of all the books printed in Ukraine this year. — This community deals not only with banned books but also with books deemed “challenging.” Therefore, I believe this news, which reports on the destruction of the Ukrainian publishing industry for “challenging” the Russian regime and aggression, is in line with the community’s theme.
Exocapitalism: economies with absolutely no limits
There is a touch of destiny with this one. We have real…
annotations: Les mécanismes de la malédiction des ressources
traduction française du billet de blog "The economic nature of the resource curse: Mechanisms" de Daron Acemoglu & James Robinson
Russia Is Planning Its Most Powerful Blow Yet to Try to Freeze Ukraine
Ukraine showed European partners what it said were intercepted Russian plans to cut off major cities from power, heat and water this winter.
Germany’s fiscal stimulus plan shows Europe is learning the wrong lesson from Ukraine | Brookings
Robin Brooks considers the feasibility and impact of Germany's planned spending on the military and infrastructure.
Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire | Michael Hudson
Super Imperialism. The Economic Strategy of Americ .... Hudson, Michael Buy Now (Wrapping 1972) “THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK ON IMPERIALISM SINCE LENIN” -TERENCE McCARTHY Michael Hudson Holt, Rinehart, Winston Backside: Super Imperialism "Never before has a bankrupt nation dared insist that its bankruptcy become the foundation of world economic policy; that, because of its bankruptcy,