New Delhi, Oct 23 (UNI) The European union has implemented its 19th sanctions package against Russia, tightening economic restrictions on key sectors including energy, finance, and defence, while expanding punitive measures to entities in China, India, and other third countries accused of helping Moscow circumvent previous sanctions.
Announcing the measures, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the new package “makes it increasingly difficult for Putin to finance his war” and pledged that “the 19th package will not be the last.” The package comes in response to Russia’s renewed assault on Ukraine’s energy, water, and health infrastructure, which Brussels condemned as deliberate attacks on civilians.
"We just adopted our 19th sanctions package. It targets Russian banks, crypto exchanges, entities in India and China, among others", EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas
Under the new measures, the EU introduced a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), to take effect in two phases—within six months for short-term contracts and from January 2027 for long-term contracts.
The bloc also tightened existing restrictions on state-owned oil giants Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, while blacklisting several entities accused of enabling Russia’s “shadow fleet” operations. Among those listed is Litasco Middle East DMCC, a Dubai-based affiliate of Lukoil, as well as maritime registries providing false flags to vessels transporting sanctioned oil and military equipment. The EU also added 117 more vessels to its port access ban, bringing the total number of restricted ships to 557, and extended prohibitions to the reinsurance of shadow fleet vessels.
The measures aim to further disrupt Moscow’s ability to profit from oil exports that continue to fund its war in Ukraine. In the financial sector, the EU imposed transaction bans on five Russian banks—including Alfa-Bank, MTS Bank, Istina, Zemsky Bank, and Absolut Bank—as well as eight financial institutions from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, the UAE, and Hong Kong accused of facilitating sanctions evasion. The package also targets Russia’s increasing use of cryptocurrency to bypass restrictions. Transactions involving the state-backed A7A5 stablecoin have been banned, alongside sanctions on its developers and trading platforms.
Further, EU operators are prohibited from engaging with Russia’s Mir payment card system and its Fast Payments System (SBP). Restrictions were also imposed on businesses operating in nine Russian special economic zones central to its industrial and military capacity. The EU listed 45 additional entities directly supporting Russia’s war machine, including 12 companies in China, three in India, and two in Thailand, accused of enabling the transfer of sensitive technologies such as microelectronics, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and CNC machine tools. Export bans were expanded to include a wider range of chemicals, metals, rubber goods, and electronic components critical to Russia’s arms production. Beyond economic sanctions, the EU tightened restrictions on Russian diplomats, requiring advance notification before travelling within the Schengen area, in response to concerns over espionage and destabilisation activities. The bloc also sanctioned individuals linked to the forced abduction and indoctrination of Ukrainian children, expanding accountability measures for those responsible. Additional sanctions were applied to Belarus for continuing to support Russia’s military operations, with tighter controls on trade and financial transactions.
The European Council said the new measures add 69 individual listings and expand economic restrictions across multiple sectors. “Every euro we deny Russia is one it cannot spend on war,” Kallas said, reaffirming the EU’s resolve to sustain pressure until Moscow ends its aggression against Ukraine.
An additional 117 vessels have been made subject to a port access ban and a ban on the provision of a broad range of services related to maritime transport, bringing the total number of designated vessels to 557. These measures target non-EU tankers that are part of the shadow fleet circumventing the oil price cap mechanism, which otherwise support Russia’s energy sector, or transport military equipment for Russia or stolen Ukrainian grain.
UNI AAB