News
The UK Government has included companies from the Russian defense sector and over 70 ships from the “shadow fleet” in its new package of sanctions, according to a press release put out by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) earlier today. The announcement came as Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper traveled to Kyiv.
The list includes entities Anozit, Proton, Sinvent, Elecond, NPO Poisk, Soliton, Technodinamika, Ruspolymet, Bin Yin, the Russian Institute of High-Power Radio Engineering, the Bryansk Chemical Plant,the Mezon and Recond plants, the Redkino Experimental Plant, Zvukotekhnika, the Sarapul Radio Plant, the Mytishchi Instrument-Building Plant, and the Ikar Design Bureau.
Sanctions were also imposed on individuals — Yelena and Alexei Malitsky, co-owners of the Chinese company Shenzhen Blue Hat International Trade.
The designations also included over 70 vessels from Moscow’s “shadow fleet.” The label refers to aging, poorly insured tankers that the Kremlin uses to transport crude oil in circumvention of the G7 price cap of $60 per barrel. The fleet has allowed the Russian government to continue lining its coffers, thereby financing its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The listing of the ships means that the UK has now sanctioned “more oil tankers than any other country,” according to the FCDO.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper commented:
“The UK will not stand idly by as Putin continues his barbaric invasion of Ukraine. His complete disregard for sovereignty has been shown this week when he recklessly sent drones into NATO airspace. The security of NATO and Ukraine are crucial to the UK’s security.
International action to increase economic pressure on Russia and to cut off critical cash flows which he desperately needs to pay for this illegal war is vital. These sanctions form the next stage in the UK’s leading efforts to ramp up economic pressure alongside our security support and our work alongside the Coalition of the Willing for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Cooper replaced David Lammy as the UK’s Foreign Secretary on Sept. 5 following a cabinet reshuffle by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that was triggered by the resignation of Deputy PM and Housing Minister Angela Rayner.
Earlier in September, the UK sanctioned eight Russians and three organizations linked to the deportation and ideological indoctrination of Ukrainian children.
Among them was the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, which runs programs that militarize teenagers. Its president, Aimani Kadyrova, the mother of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, was personally added to the sanctions list. Also blacklisted were the “Movement of the First,” a group reviving Soviet-era pioneer traditions, and the group “Volunteers of Victory».