Hello! In this week’s newsletter, we’ll review the economic impact of the first two months of fighting in Ukraine, and discuss two key questions: how long can the Kremlin continue to afford its ‘special military operation’ and can the Russian economy hold out? The Russian Ministry of Defense recently announced new military goals that suggest the so-called ‘special military operation’ could go on for much longer than many first thought.

The topic of release is how civil technologies are used in the war “Military operation” in Ukraine was the first major conflict in the 21st century, which unfolds in the country with significant competencies in IT and allies that are ready to share technologies. The laws of wartime apply to the IT sphere - and technologies that have been developed purely for civilian use, from the first day are actively applied during the conflict.

Vladimir Putin has lost interest in a diplomatic settlement of the conflict with Ukraine. Instead, Russia is preparing to “occupy as much territory as possible” of the neighboring country, the FT writes , citing its own sources familiar with the course of negotiations with the president. In their opinion, the head of Russia wants to emerge victorious from the situation, and resolve all key issues before his personal meeting with Vladimir Zelensky.

Nearly 8,000 luxury cars destined for Russia are stranded in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. They fell under the luxury ban, which does not allow vehicles worth more than 50,000 euros to be imported into the country. Zeebrugge has been hosting premium cars including the latest Lexus, Cadillac and Mercedes models since the beginning of April.