The United Kingdom is imposing new sanctions against Russia's "shadow fleet" ships as part of coordinated actions with G7 partners to support Ukraine, the British Foreign Office said on Thursday, UNN reports.
Details
"The UK is announcing 50 new sanctions and specifications aimed at degrading Putin's war machine as part of coordinated action with G7 partners to support Ukraine. The new targets include ships in Putin's shadow fleet, institutions underpinning Russia's financial system, and suppliers supporting Russian military production," the British Foreign Office said.
They emphasized that "these new sanctions, announced during the Prime Minister's (Rishi Sunak) participation in the G7 leaders' summit in Italy, will undermine Russia's ability to finance and equip its war machine and demonstrate the UK's unwavering support for Ukraine.
Today's actions include the UK's first sanctions targeting vessels of Putin's shadow fleet, which are used by Russia to circumvent UK and G7 sanctions and continue to trade Russian oil unimpeded.
It is also stated that "as part of its ongoing commitment to the region, the UK has today pledged £242 million of bilateral assistance to Ukraine to support urgent humanitarian, energy and stabilization needs, and is working with colleagues to agree a mechanism to move forward with the excess proceeds of Russia's immobilized sovereign assets to Ukraine.
It is noted that the new British sanctions also target "suppliers of ammunition, machine tools, microelectronics and logistics to the Russian armed forces, including companies based in China, Israel, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, as well as ships transporting military goods from North Korea to Russia.
In addition, the new sanctions package targets institutions underlying the Russian financial system, including the Moscow Stock Exchange. This action was taken in coordination with the United States, which also imposed sanctions on the Moscow Stock Exchange on June 12.
The UK will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in its fight for freedom. Today, we are ramping up economic pressure again through sanctions to limit Russia's ability to fund its war machine. Putin must lose, and denying him the ability to fund a protracted conflict is absolutely essential
Addendum
According to the British Foreign Office, sanctions have deprived Russia of more than $400 billion in assets and revenues since February 2022. This is equivalent to another four years of funding for the invasion. The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on more than 2,000 individuals and entities under the sanctions regime against Russia.
These include 29 banks, which account for more than 90% of the Russian banking sector, and even more than 130 oligarchs and their families, whose combined net worth at the time of the invasion was about £147 billion.