Ukraine sanctions 91 Russian 'shadow fleet' vessels sailing under foreign flags

Monitoring results in the Black, Red and Baltic seas show that Russia used these vessels to transport oil and petroleum products from Russian ports — including Novorossiysk, Ust-Luga and Primorsk — to third countries, bypassing international sanctions.

The Office of the President said the sanctioned vessels sailed under the flags of about 20 countries. Only one flew a Russian flag, while the rest were registered under the flags of Panama, Liberia, Cameroon, Barbados, the Marshall Islands, Hong Kong, Sierra Leone, Tonga, Palau, Guinea, the Comoros, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Malawi, Guinea-Bissau, Djibouti, Guyana and Eswatini.

Ukraine will pass this information to those states and work with partners to further synchronize sanctions within their jurisdictions.

At the same time, 27 vessels on the list are already under sanctions imposed by partners, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the European Union.

The Office of the President said sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet make it possible to pressure everyone involved in transporting Russian oil and thereby helping the aggressor state generate funds to finance its war against Ukraine.

In January 2026, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 20% of Russia’s “shadow fleet” vessels had already been halted.

On Feb. 2, the Ukrainian president signed a decree imposing sanctions on companies servicing Russia’s tanker fleet and transporting sanctioned oil.

On Feb. 6, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington was considering tightening sanctions against Russia, adding that further restrictions would depend on the progress of peace talks.

According to Bloomberg, the European Union is preparing a 20th package of sanctions against Russia, which would increase pressure on the Kremlin’s oil revenues and expand restrictions on banks, the shadow fleet and sanctions-evasion schemes.