UK Royal Marine Commandos take part in a maritime interdiction operation on the vessel SMYRTOS off the south coast of England, June 14, 2026. The boarding, carried out with National Crime Agency officers, was part of a UK operation targeting vessels suspected of attempting to evade sanctions linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine, authorities said. UK MOD Crown/LPhot Hutchins/Handout via REUTERS
The United Kingdom has imposed sanctions on eight ships as part of a broader package targeting Russian energy revenues, maritime logistics and individuals accused of supporting Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The 31 new measures announced Thursday include 23 individuals and entities along with eight vessels that will be subject to UK shipping and trade sanctions.
The maritime portion targets three vessels Britain describes as part of Russia’s shadow fleet, two ships providing bunkering services and three Russian-owned ice-class vessels.
Five of the vessels are LNG carriers, including three newer Arc7 ice-class ships intended to support Russia’s Arctic LNG trade. As gCaptain reported earlier Thursday, those ships are Chaivo, Portovyy, Aleksey Kosygin, Konstantin Posiet and Pyotr Stolypin.
The UK government said Russia is attempting to develop a new shadow fleet capable of sustaining gas exports despite Western restrictions, with some of the newly targeted vessels entering service only this year.
The sanctions come as Britain prepares to tighten restrictions on services supporting Russian LNG exports. The UK previously announced that restrictions covering maritime transportation and related services for Russian LNG will expand from January 1, 2027.
At the same time, London has introduced targeted exemptions covering Russian LNG shipments to Japan and South Korea as the two countries transition away from Russian supplies.
A general trade licence issued for Japan allows UK companies to continue supporting certain imports from Russia’s Sakhalin-2 project under contracts signed before June 17, 2025. The exemption runs from January 1, 2027 through March 31, 2028 and does not cover new contracts or transactions involving designated persons.
Similar arrangements have been extended for South Korea.
The UK said it has now sanctioned nearly 600 tankers linked to efforts to move Russian energy outside Western restrictions.
Thursday’s package extends beyond shipping. Eight people were sanctioned over allegations involving the detention, torture and mistreatment of Ukrainian civilians in Russian-occupied territory, while seven others were targeted over programs involving Ukrainian children.
Another seven people were sanctioned for alleged involvement in pro-Kremlin disinformation operations.
“We are targeting both the revenues that help sustain Russia’s aggression and perpetrators of horrendous crimes against Ukrainian civilians, including children,” Minister for Europe Lord Wood of Anfield said.
The UK’s official Russia sanctions register was updated October 1 with 23 new designations and eight new ship specifications.
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