"We will do everything in our power to destroy Putin's shadow fleet"

"The threat from Russia to our national security cannot be underestimated, that is why we will do everything in our power to destroy his shadow fleet operation, starve his war machine of oil revenues and protect the subsea infrastructure that we rely on for our everyday lives," UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said as he presented the new sanctions package.

There is no place to hide for those who help fund Putin’s war machine, the PM underlined.

Starmer announced the new sanctions during his visit Oslo on May 9. The UK leader took part in the summit Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) together with government leaders from ten north European countries.

The new UK restrictive measures include 101 ships, mostly oil tankers. Among them are several vessels that previously have sailed frequently in the Barents Sea. 

The Ji Shun is one of the tankers now put on the list. The 176 meter long vessel has changed name twice the last year. Before June 2024, the name of the ship was Shanghai. Before May 2024, it carried the name RN Murmansk. 

The RN Murmansk operated for state oil company Rosneft. It has ice class 1A Super and sails under the flag of Panama.

The new UK sanctions come as also the EU is in the process of taking new measures against Moscow. The Union's 17th sanctions package includes measures against 189 shadow fleet vessels, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says on Bluesky.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas says the EU now is upping the pressure on Russia to end its war.

"It [the sanction package] will target more of Russia’s shadow fleet, which is illegally shipping oil for revenues to fund Putin’s aggression," she says in a post on Bluesky.

"Sanctions drain Russia’s war chest," she underlines.