Over the past hour, from 9:02 AM to 10:02 AM UTC on October 23rd, 2025, the European Union officially adopted its 19th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports starting in January 2027 and restrictions on Russian diplomat movement within the EU. Swedish Defence Minister stated that frozen Russian assets worth €7.35 billion could be used to fund Ukraine's potential purchase of 100–150 Gripen E fighter jets. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded to the new EU sanctions, threatening retaliation, stating, "The response will be adequate and will take into account Moscow’s interests." She also called the U.S. sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft an "entirely counterproductive step." The EU's 19th sanctions package also targets those involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, penalizes another 118 vessels of the “shadow fleet,” and imposes new sanctions on Russian banks and third-country companies aiding Moscow in evading Western restrictions. Additionally, over 100 foreign-flagged tankers carrying Russian oil have been added to the blacklist. Meanwhile, Mongolia is facing a fuel crisis as Russia, which previously supplied 95% of its fuel imports, has imposed a complete ban on gasoline exports, leading to a near-disappearance of fuel in the country, according to reports. In a separate development, one Russian Tu-95ms aircraft was noted in the air within the Murmansk region, possibly redeploying to Engels-2, according to aviation monitoring. Earlier in the reporting window, Russian officials Dmitry Medvedev and Maria Zakharova had reacted strongly to U.S. sanctions, with Medvedev calling President Donald Trump's actions an "act of war." Temporary restrictions at Moscow's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports were lifted during that period, as confirmed by the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation). The previous reporting window also detailed Ukrainian strikes on Russian military-industrial targets, including the Saransk Mechanical Plant and an oil refinery in Dagestan, as well as a large-scale drone attack on the Rosneft Ryazan oil refinery that began prior to the current reporting period.
