Kyiv blacklists 225 ship captains over Russian oil exports

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree introducing sanctions against 225 captains of vessels belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” which exports Russian petroleum products.

The relevant decree has been published on the website of the President of Ukraine.

“One of the decisions is aimed at combating Russia’s shadow fleet: sanctions have been imposed on 225 captains of vessels exporting Russian petroleum products. Among them are citizens of 11 countries, including Russia, India, and the Philippines. Monitoring of the situation in the Black Sea, Red Sea, and Baltic Sea showed that these captains operated vessels of the Russian shadow fleet and transported oil in circumvention of sanctions imposed by the EU, the G7, and other states. Most of these tankers — 188 — are already under sanctions by the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand,” the decree states.

The second sanctions package includes 46 Russian citizens, two Iranian nationals, and 44 Russian companies servicing Russia’s military-industrial complex.

“Two Iranian citizens were involved in supplying aircraft spare parts and components in circumvention of sanctions. This was carried out in the interests of an Iranian aircraft manufacturing corporation, which is a partner of Russia in the development and production of Shahed drones and is already under sanctions by Ukraine, the United States, Switzerland, and New Zealand. Ukraine will provide the relevant information to partners for synchronisation and will continue expanding sanctions against other individuals and legal entities contributing to Russian aggression,” it says.

By Tamilla Hasanova