The United Kingdom Intensifies Maritime Pressure on Russia with New Sanctions
The United Kingdom has escalated its maritime pressure campaign on Russia, unveiling a new sanctions package at the G7 Summit in Canada that targets 20 additional tankers linked to Vladimir Putin’s shadow oil fleet with the European Union likely to follow suit.
The 30-entity sanctions list unveiled by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy includes not just vessels but also shipping companies, crewing firms, and shell entities suspected of facilitating illegal oil trades and circumventing the G7 oil price cap.
The vessels named in the new sanctions are believed to be part of a fleet operating under deceptive flags, falsified documentation, and complex ownership structures designed to obfuscate links to sanctioned Russian oil interests. Many of the tankers on the list have previously raised red flags for performing ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in high-risk zones and engaging in AIS (automatic identification system) spoofing.
Newly sanctioned entities include Rosneft Marine (UK), Orion Star Group, and Valegro, firms implicated in crewing and managing tankers connected to sanctioned Russian energy firms. Two UK-based businessmen—Vladimir Pristoupa and Olech Tkacz—were also sanctioned, accused of funneling over $120 million in high-tech electronics to Russia through a web of shell companies.
“These sanctions strike right at the heart of Putin’s war machine, choking off his ability to continue his barbaric war in Ukraine,” Starmer said yesterday.