UK announces new Russia sanctions targeting financial services and shadow fleet
USO•Britain announced 38 new designations targeting oil transport, financial services and supply chains linked to Russia’s war effort. The package includes 12 oil tankers, three crypto exchanges, two payment platforms and 17 entities and individuals.
1. Sanctions target oil and finance
Britain’s Foreign Office announced 38 new designations targeting individuals and entities it said were involved in producing or transporting Russian oil, facilitating military manufacturing and circumventing financial services sanctions. The measures include 12 oil tankers that Britain says operate as part of Russia’s shadow fleet and help Moscow evade sanctions on oil exports.
2. Payment and supply networks
The package also names three crypto exchanges and two payment platforms suspected by Britain of being used to circumvent financial sanctions; Britain said two had processed and facilitated transactions with the A7 illicit finance network. Seventeen entities and individuals are involved in supplying goods deemed by the UK, US and EU to be critical to Russia’s war effort, including machine tools, electronics and materials used to produce missiles and drones.
3. Russia’s embassy responds
Russia’s embassy in London said each new sanctions package was intended to demonstrate British resolve but, in its view, highlighted the “ineffectiveness and futility” of the chosen course.
