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By Maya Mehrara and Michael D. Carroll
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Thirty ships in Russia's "shadow fleet" have been hit by a new wave of sanctions from the United Kingdom, in a move aimed at constraining the Kremlin's ability to fund its war in Ukraine.
The U.K. said the ships were responsible for transporting billions of dollars worth of oil products in the last year alone, and that the sanctions would curtail Russia's "malign activity worldwide."
"With half of the ships targeted today transporting more than $4.3 billion worth of oil and oil products like gasoline in the last year alone, today is the largest U.K. package of its kind," the U.K. government said in a statement.
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"Constraining these revenues, including by cracking down on the companies that insure these vessels, is vital for maintaining our shared security: degrading the Kremlin's war machine, clearing our shipping lanes of unsafe traffic, and protecting our international trade to make room for growth."
The move brings the total number of oil tankers sanctioned by the U.K. to 73, more than any other nation, the statement said.
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U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a call to action against the "shadow fleet" at the European Political Summit in Oxfordshire, England, in July. Since then, 46 countries and the European Union have followed suit.
The U.K.'s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said that Russia's oil revenues are "fueling the fires of war and destruction in Ukraine."
"I will work with our G7 partners and beyond to exert relentless pressure on the Kremlin, disrupt the flow of money into its war chest, erode its military machine, and constrain its malign behavior worldwide," Lammy said in a statement.
Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the UK's Department for Business and Trade for comment via email.
The U.K. government added that the "shadow fleet" also poses risks to global trade, as many of the ships engage in "deceptive shipping practices" and are an environmental danger.
"Many tankers flagrantly ignore basic safety standards, increasing the chance of catastrophic oil spills," it said.
Russian oil and gas revenues have been rising over the past year. Russia's economy ministry increased its estimated oil and gas export sales for 2024 by $17.4 billion to $239.7 billion, Reuters reported in September.
As of May 2024, Russian crude oil was being imported by China, India, Myanmar, Turkey, and some EU countries, according to the Centre for Research on Air and Clean Energy.
The U.K. and EU announced vastly tightened sanctions on Iran last week because of the country's support of Russia in its war against Ukraine.
The sanctions targeted vessels and ports used for the transfer of Iranian-made Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and missiles, as well as Russian cargo ships.
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