• Office says new measures also target Russia’s covert oil trading network, sanctioning 175 companies linked to '2Rivers' oil group—one of world’s largest shadow fleet operators

ISTANBUL

The UK announced nearly 300 new sanctions on Tuesday with its "biggest" sanctions package, targeting Russia's critical revenue streams, including its energy sector, and military suppliers.

A statement from the Foreign Office said the sanctions, announced on the fourth anniversary of the Ukraine War, represent the largest package of sanctions against Russia in this period.

"Today’s action targets one of the world’s largest oil pipeline companies, PJSC Transneft, responsible for transporting over 80% of Russian oil exports, further hampering the Kremlin’s desperate scramble to find buyers for its sanctioned oil," the statement said.

The new measures also targeted Russia’s covert oil trading network, sanctioning 175 companies linked to the “2Rivers” oil group—one of the world’s largest shadow fleet operators and a key trader of Russian crude, according to the readout.

The statement said the sanctions target 49 entities and individuals, including international suppliers of Russian drones, components and technology, as well as actors in Russia’s liquefied natural gas sector.

It added that nine banks handling Russian cross-border payments are also included in the package.

"The UK has today taken decisive action to disrupt the critical financing, military equipment and revenue streams that sustain Russia’s aggression, in our largest raft of measures since the early months of the invasion," said Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. "Today I’m in Kyiv announcing £30 million ($40.52 million) in funding to strengthen Ukrainian energy resilience and support recovery, taking the total UK support to £21.8 billion since the start of the war."

She added that they will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine and defend European security, as "Ukraine’s security is our security."