Ukraine imposes sanctions on 91 Russian shadow fleet tankers

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted a decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine on 12 February to impose sanctions on 91 sea vessels that are part of Russia's shadow fleet.

Source: Office of the President website

Details: The Russian Federation has used these vessels to transport oil and petroleum products from Russian ports, including in Novorossiysk, Ust-Luga and Primorsk, to third countries. This has been done in circumvention of sanctions imposed by the European Union, the G7 and other states.

The sanctioned vessels sailed under the flags of around 20 countries. Among them, only one was Russian-flagged, while the others sailed under the flags of Panama, Liberia, Cameroon, Barbados, the Marshall Islands, Hong Kong, Sierra Leone, Tonga, Palau, Guinea, Comoros, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Malawi, Guinea-Bissau, Djibouti, Guyana and Eswatini.

Ukraine will hand over the relevant information to these states and will also work with partners on further synchronisation of sanctions within their jurisdictions.

A total of 27 vessels from this list are already under sanctions from partners: the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the European Union.

"Shadow fleet tankers are a key instrument for circumventing oil sanctions; therefore their identification and the imposition of sanctions against them must proceed swiftly and without exceptions. Each such vessel should be regarded as an element of financing Russia's war machine," said Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Zelenskyy's adviser and Commissioner for Sanctions Policy.

Background: EU Sanctions Envoy David O'Sullivan stated that Russia's war-based economy may be approaching a point where it becomes "unsustainable".

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