Britain has imposed its largest sanctions to date against Russia’s “shadow fleet” of tankers, which used to circumvent a Western embargo on oil exports following its invasion of Ukraine.
The crackdown bars 18 ships from UK ports and from accessing British maritime services, bringing the total number of sanctioned vessels to 43.
Experts argue that the “ghost fleet” allows the Kremlin to continue exporting oil despite sanctions and a price cap on its global sales.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) stated that these sanctions are “starving Putin’s war machine of crucial revenues.”