Russia has resorted to a "shadow fleet" to transport its oil and gas to get around Western sanctions and price caps. The Kyiv Independent spoke with Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Transatlantic Security Initiative, to find out what options the West has and how dangerous the shadow fleet actually is.
Ksenia Yudaeva is moving to Washington after the U.S. Treasury Department, still under the Biden administration, granted her permission to transition from remote to in-person duties as Russia's IMF executive director, Bloomberg reported in January.
Zservers, a bulletproof hosting (BPH) services provider, supported the Russian cybercrime group LockBit in perpetrating mass ransomware attacks, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Chinese refiners are being offered Russian ESPO crude at discounted prices as rising concerns over U.S. sanctions create logistical and administrative challenges, deterring buyers, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 11.
Russian officials are concerned that the Western sanctions are undermining Russia's economic influence over countries in its close neighborhood and the Global South, the Financial Times reported on Feb. 10, citing a leaked government report.
The number of sanctioned vessels has now reached 265, with U.S. blacklisting proving to be the most disruptive. Of the 435 ships that transported Russian crude in 2024, 112—or 26%—are now under Washington’s sanctions.
A draft law approved this week by the Russian government's legislative commission lays out the procedure for seizing foreign property in retaliation for freezing Russian assets abroad.
Current U.S. sanctions on Russia, particularly those targeting its energy sector, amount to a "3 on a 10-point scale" regarding economic pressure, Keith Kellogg, special envoy for Ukraine and Russia said.
According to documents obtained by the FT, Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven sold their stakes for about Rbs 240 billion ($2.5 billion).
In 2023, the Russian branch of Raiffeisen Bank earned over $1 billion in the first three quarters, which accounted for about 50% of the group's total profit. The bank also paid 277 million euros ($284 million) in taxes to Russia over the same period, Bloomberg reported.
The sanctions will also cut off more Russian banks from the SWIFT banking system, and target an additional 70 vessels suspected to be part of Russia’s "shadow-fleet."
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski believes Trump's recent threats of sanctions against Moscow played a role in Hungary's decision to withdraw its veto.
"This will continue to deprive Moscow of revenues to finance its war. Russia needs to pay for the damage they are causing," EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
Editor's note: This article is an on-site version of KI Insights' The Week Ahead newsletter covering events from Jan. 27-Feb. 2. Sign up here to start your week with an agenda of Ukraine-related events, delivered directly to your inbox every Sunday. The 9-year terms of three Constitutional Court judges will
"Trump, in the first iteration of his presidency, was the American president who most often resorted to sanctions methods," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Vladimir Kiriyenko, son of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Deputy Chief of Staff Sergei Kiriyenko, has continued making investments in the West through offshore companies despite sanctions, The Moscow Times reported on Jan. 21.
The latest sanctions, imposed last week, targeted over 180 oil-carrying vessels of Russia's so-called shadow fleet, a group of aging tankers routinely used for sanction evasion.
"Today's actions frustrate the Kremlin's ability to circumvent our sanctions and get access to the goods they need to build weapons for their war of choice in Ukraine," said Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Wally Adeyemo.
The phase-out of LNG could be enacted as a sanction or part of a road map presented by the European Commission next month. Restrictions on aluminum would be gradual, with a time frame yet to be determined, officials said.
Sixty-five oil tankers paused operations in various places around the world following the recent U.S.-U.K. sanctions against Russia’s oil industry and shadow fleet, Reuters reported on Jan. 13, citing maritime tracking data.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on Jan. 13 imposing new sanctions on the Russian financial sector. The sanctions target 140 distinct entities.
Three sanctioned tankers carrying over 2 million barrels of Russian crude oil are floating off China's coast after they were hit by fresh U.S. sanctions last week, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 13.
"The towing convoy is moving eastwards to a position northeast of Cape Arkona (Rügen)," Germany's Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) said, referring to the German island in the southwestern part of the Baltic Sea.
The new measures targeted individuals and entities from Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Turkey, and North Korea.
The U.S.'s planned sanctions would aim at targeting tankers carrying Russian oil above the imposed price cap and individuals working in schemes to sell crude above the cap, Reuters reported.
While the diamond industry markets itself as a beacon of luxury, the complex web of global trade hides dark, brutal reality. Despite sanctions and growing scrutiny, Russian diamonds continue to enter the global market, funding Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
The declaration comes after President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed during a press conference on Dec. 19 that Ukraine would not extend the transit agreement for Russian gas through its territory, which is set to expire on Dec. 31.
According to reports, 14 crew members were rescued, and two remain missing.
The U.S. is planning to impose additional sanctions on Russian oil by the end of the year, particularly targeting Russia's so-called "shadow fleet," Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions, told public broadcaster Suspilne on Dec. 23.
BMW discovered irregularities that allowed cars to be transferred to Russia from its branch in Hanover, the German automaker said on Dec. 22.
Ukraine has said it will not extend the transit agreement for Russian gas through its territory, set to expire on Dec. 31.
Orban "surprised" his fellow EU leaders by deciding to block the extension during a summit in Brussels on Dec. 19 in what is considered a "routine" step, Bloomberg wrote.
(Updated: )
