+++ Ukraine-Krieg +++: Lawrow: Könnten Großbritannien als Kriegspartei in der Ukraine betrachten

In light of escalating costs for the war against Ukraine, Russian donors followed a media appeal and pumped billions into the state treasury, according to a report by the Russian economic newspaper "Wedomosti". By mid-August, 383.69 billion rubles (approximately 3.9 billion euros) in voluntary donations had been funneled into the budget, which was twice as much as the entire year of 2025.

This amount exceeded all expectations. Most of the funds stemmed from the call made in March to entrepreneurs, according to the newspaper, citing the Ministry of Finance. Not only large corporations, but also individuals, corporate or family foundations, could make such transfers, said Alexander Schochin, head of the Russian Industrial and Entrepreneurial Association, to the newspaper.

Each major donor decides independently on the voluntary contribution based on their own financial situation. What exactly the money is spent on remains unclear. However, there is a significant deficit in the Russian budget due to the increasing expenses for Putin's war against Ukraine for the past four and a half years. The government may introduce an additional tax on the financial sector in the fall to raise even more money, according to "Wedomosti".

The war has also led to an increase in income and value-added taxes in Russia. In the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa, at least nine people were injured by Russian attacks. "The enemy continues to terrorize the civilian population in the Odessa region with terror," regional military governor Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram. According to the Ukrinform agency, Russian drone attacks hit a restaurant and several private houses.

A Russian court sentenced prominent Russian war critic and opposition figure Lev Schlosberg to eleven years and one month in a penal colony in a controversial case. The judge found the vice president of the liberal opposition party Yabloko guilty, among other things, of slandering the Russian military. The verdict was thus somewhat below the prosecution's request, which had asked for twelve years and one month.

The 63-year-old politician will appeal the decision, according to Schlosberg's liberal party Yabloko. The Kremlin's state development bank VEB reportedly fired its chief economist after he criticized the economic situation and the war in Ukraine. Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters this on Monday. Andrei Klepatsch had already stated in May at a financial forum that Russia is falling behind in competition with the West and China and is suffering increasing economic damage due to the war.

The bank confirmed the dismissal but gave no reason. Klepatsch himself confirmed the departure to Reuters. Klepatsch's remarks, published on the website of the Nikitski Club - an economist and government representative forum - were not known to Russian media until last week. "We are falling behind. We are losing technological and economic competition in the world," Klepatsch said.

"And we are losing it not only to China and the United States. In a sense, we are losing it to Ukraine as well." This is due to Western financial support for Kiev. "We will not win the competition in this war of attrition. We have the illusion that everything will collapse there. It has not collapsed and will not collapse. Our costs are rising."