The EU approved its 17th sanctions package against Russia, targeting nearly 200 shadow fleet vessels.
European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas announced the package on X without elaborating on the package at the time of publication.
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Apart from targeting the Russian shadow fleet, the EU also plans to address Russia’s “hybrid threats,” she said.
“New measures also address hybrid threats and human rights. More sanctions on Russia are in the works. The longer Russia wages war, the tougher our response,” Kallas wrote.
The same day, the UK also announced “100 sanctions targets across the Russian military, energy, financial sectors and those conducting Putin’s information war against Ukraine,” according to an official press release on Tuesday.
The new British sanctions are coordinated with the EU’s efforts, the press release says.
The UK targeted 14 members of the Social Design Agency (SDA), which it said carries out Kremlin-funded information operations.
The UK also targeted Russia’s banking sector, against firms that it said “help Russian attempts to evade sanctions.”
“Today’s action targets 46 financial institutions that help Russian attempts to evade sanctions, as well as the St Petersburg Currency Exchange, and the Russian Deposit Insurance Agency which insures Russian banks. These new sanctions will further isolate the Russian economy and disrupt Russia’s revenue streams,” the press release states.
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Alongside EU sanctions, the UK blacklisted 18 more vessels.
The news about new sanctions emerged less than 24 hours after European leaders were reportedly “stunned” by the agreements between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump during the two’s Monday phone call.
One official familiar with the follow-up conversations said the leaders were shocked by Trump’s description of what had been agreed between Washington and Moscow.
The Financial Times, citing multiple sources briefed on the calls, reported that Trump made it clear the US would pull back from its mediator attempt and have Ukraine and Russia negotiate a ceasefire directly, which was in line with Putin’s suggestions at the call.
The latest sanctions targeted 200 shadow fleet vessels – but Russia is estimated to be operating four times more.
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) estimated that Moscow’s shadow fleet operates 817 vessels.
Russia created a shadow fleet in response to the EU’s $60 per barrel oil price cap imposed in December 2022.
But Russia continued to trade oil with the EU using ships registered in other countries and abusing their regulations, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, an official from Ukraine’s Presidential Office responsible for sanctions, wrote in July 2022.
Within two years, Russia formed a tanker fleet that allowed it to ship oil, liquified natural gas (LNG) and gas while bypassing sanctions.
As of Feb. 24, 2025, the US, UK and EU have sanctioned only 311 oil tankers for violating restrictions on transporting Russian oil, according to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) Institute, an analytical center at the Kyiv School of Economics.
Western shipowners have earned a total of over $6.3 billion selling aging tankers that have become part of a so-called “shadow fleet,” the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project estimated.
