The United Kingdom on June 13 unveiled sanctions against 50 entities, individuals, and vessels in order to crack down on Russia's war machine.
The sanctions were introduced in coordination with Group of Seven (G7) partners during Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's visit to the G7 Leaders Summit in Italy.
The restrictions aim to "bear down on Russia's ability to fund and equip its war machine and show the U.K.'s steadfast support for Ukraine," the British government's statement read.
The U.K. imposed sanctions on the Moscow Stock Exchange in coordination with the United States, which announced a new round of restrictive measures against Russian financial institutions a day earlier.
After the U.S. sanctions were introduced, the Moscow Exchange released a statement suspending the trade with dollars and euros starting June 13.
The U.K. also imposed its first sanctions on vessels in Russia's shadow fleet, which has been used to circumvent Western sanctions and continue trading in Russian oil.
"Russia's oil exports are (Vladimir) Putin's most critical revenue source for funding his illegal war in Ukraine. Tax on oil production collected by the Kremlin in 2023 amounted to 8.9 trillion rubles (over $100 billion) or 31% of Russia's total federal revenues," the statement read.
"Today's (June 13) sanctions aim to disrupt and increase the costs of Russia's efforts to bypass U.K. and G7 sanctions through its shadow fleet."
Apart from the financial system and shadow fleet, new targets include suppliers of munitions, machine tools, microelectronics, and logistics to Russia's military, including entities based in China, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey, along with ships that transport military goods from North Korea to Russia.
The U.K. has sanctioned over 2,000 individuals and entities in total under the Russia sanctions regime, according to the statement.
British sanctions have deprived Russia of over $400 billion worth of assets and revenues since February 2022, which is equivalent to four more years of funding for the invasion, London said.
Western countries have imposed extensive economic restrictions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, seeking to curb its state revenue and prevent it from obtaining key technologies needed for the war effort.
Russia has sought to dodge these sanctions via various third-party entities in China, Central Asia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere.
Nate Ostiller
(Updated: )
