Defence and energy: what support did Ukraine receive from international partners in January

Russia is seeking to recover €47.2 million from the German defence contractor Rheinmetall in relation to a contract for the construction of a military training centre, the implementation of which was suspended following the occupation of Crimea in 2014.

Estonia supports extending temporary protection for Ukrainians in the EU until March 2028 and is advocating for a ban on Russian combatants entering the Schengen Area.

Ukraine has become the first non-EU country to join Europe’s single digital wallet – and is already testing four documents for recognition abroad.

A new bill has been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada that would decriminalise adult content and put an end to the schemes through which unscrupulous law enforcement officers profit.

By 2029, Taiwan plans to increase its stockpile of anti-ship missiles to over 1,800 units. The country aims to counter threats from China.

The US is prepared to resort to military action against Iran once again if negotiations over its nuclear programme prove fruitless. At the same time, officials in Washington say that Donald Trump continues to hope for a diplomatic solution

Ukraine has received a new launcher for the IRIS-T air defence system. Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Germany for its support and stressed that, due to large-scale Russian air strikes, the country needs to further strengthen its air defences

Moldovan President Maia Sandu has stated that Ukraine’s international partners must step up economic pressure on Russia to force the Kremlin into genuine negotiations to end the war

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that negotiations involving Washington to end Russia’s war against Ukraine have effectively been suspended due to a lack of progress

Brian Mast, Chair of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, has stated that Washington has no plans to approve new large-scale financial aid packages for Ukraine

The average salary in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2026 was 28,885 hryvnias. However, the figures for men and women differ significantly, with the gap exceeding 47% in certain sectors.

The city authorities have allocated 2,148,145,000 hryvnias for the construction of new civil defence shelters and the renovation of existing ones in 2026. In 2025, almost the same amount was allocated for construction alone.

Since the launch of the Ukrainian maritime corridor in 2023, 200 million tonnes of cargo have been transported via it, of which 118 million tonnes is Ukrainian grain.

MP Danylo Getmantsev stated that parliamentarians are dissatisfied with the slow progress in bringing the economy out of the shadows, and that, instead of delivering tangible results, the Economic Security Bureau is ‘feeding’ the public with presentations and manipulating the figures in its reports.

Petrol stations in Moscow and St Petersburg are introducing limits on the sale of petrol and diesel. The companies attribute these measures to market conditions and supply difficulties.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has published an open letter to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. In the letter, he called for an end to the war and proposed a face-to-face meeting to discuss the terms of peace.

Following inspections carried out in May, eight military units in Ukraine have lost the right to train new recruits independently.

Russia is facing mounting pressure due to the situation on the front line, economic problems and strikes by Ukrainian drones on its territory. European officials suggest that Moscow’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric may be linked to attempts to restart the negotiation process on its own terms.

The Russian military has attacked at least 935 port infrastructure facilities since the start of the full-scale war. People have also been injured.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has killed 707 children in Ukraine, with a further 2,548 wounded. 4 June marks the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.