Eastern Europe / Data
Russians describing their politics as tense hits 57%, the highest reading since 2000
The share of Russians who say the political situation in their country is tense or critical has climbed to 70%, the highest in a quarter of a century.
Russia has sold gold every month this year, and is now selling into a rising market
Russia has sold gold out of its reserves in every month of 2026, and the price it is getting has started to climb again.
Global fertility rates fall below the replacement rate for the first time
Humanity has probably already fallen below the fertility rate it needs to replace itself, and nobody noticed it happening.
Zelenskiy tops Ukraine's anti-rating for the first time, pollster says
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has for the first time topped the list of candidates Ukrainians say they would not vote for under any circumstances, according to the pollster SOCIS.
Crowd of 30 beats Ukrainian recruitment officers in Lutsk street clash
Around 30 people attacked a Ukrainian military recruitment team in the western city of Lutsk, injuring two servicemen and smashing their vehicle.
Russia's happiness index falls to its lowest level since 2011
Russia's happiness index fell nine points in July to 50, its lowest level since 2011 and the sharpest one-month drop the state pollster has recorded during the war.
Russia's budget deficit passes last year's full-year total with five months to go
The July figure widened the year-to-date gap by around RUB0.7 trillion.
Seven in 10 Russians now call the situation at home tense or critical
Anxiety in Russia has climbed back to the level it reached when Vladimir Putin ordered mobilisation four years ago.
Myanmar's banks buckle under junta rule as the kyat loses three-quarters of its value
Cash-strapped depositors, a collapsing currency and lenders shut out of the global financial system: Myanmar's banks are being ground down by more than five years of military rule.
Russia's 1H26 trade surplus rises 14% to $73.4bn on Asian demand
Russia's foreign trade surplus grew 14% to $73.4bn in the first half of 2026, with Asia now taking three quarters of everything the country buys and sells abroad.
Poland leads the world on defence worry, Finland climbs fastest since 2019
Even in the country most alarmed by it, defence is a top national concern for fewer than one person in three, a Statista survey of 32 countries has found.
Russian life satisfaction slumps to 47% as gloom returns to mobilisation levels
Fewer than half of Russians now say they are satisfied with their lives, a 10-point drop in a year, according to the Levada Center.
Putin's trust rating holds near 70% a month before Russia's Duma vote
Two Russian pollsters put trust in Vladimir Putin at 69% and 73.3% this week, steady readings a month before September's State Duma election.
Barely half of Ukrainians abroad still plan to go home
Just over half of the Ukrainians living abroad still intend to come home, down from more than two-thirds a year ago, as new lives in the EU take root.
US munitions stockpiles run low as Iran war outpaces Ukraine as main drain
US military munitions stockpiles have shrunk sharply since the war with Iran began, with the five-month-old conflict now the main driver of depletion even for weapon systems the US had previously donated heavily to Ukraine.
Ukrainians' willingness to endure the war rebounds to 61%, KIIS poll finds
The rebound comes even as expectations of a swift end to the fighting remain low.
Latvia faces a demographic 'triple squeeze' as the whole Baltic region ages and empties
Latvia is facing a demographic "triple squeeze" that will leave it with roughly 1.5mn people by 2050, a fifth fewer than today, as old-age dependency rises and pension incomes shrink relative to wages.
Ukrainians rank corruption above missile strikes as the country's biggest problem - poll
A new poll finds corruption now outranks missile strikes as Ukrainians' top concern, while most still oppose Mykhailo Fedorov's dismissal as defence minister.
Russia-China trade turnover rises 26.3% in seven months
Trade in goods between Russia and China rose 26.3% year-on-year to $159.2bn in January-July 2026, the Russian Trade Mission in China said on August 7, citing Chinese customs data, Vedomosti reported.
More than half of Russians have already decided how they'll vote in Duma election - poll
Some 56% of Russians have already decided which party they will vote for in September's State Duma election, according to July survey data from state pollster VTsIOM, Vedomosti reported on August 7.