President Volodymyr Zelensky, following a report by the First Deputy Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Oleh Luhovskyi, stated that 20% of the vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet have been halted, and Russia is now trying to compensate for this loss by bringing in new ships.
“Thanks to our coordinated pressure measures—together with a number of partner states—at least 20% of the shadow fleet’s vessels have stopped operating, and Russia is trying to make up for this loss by attracting new ships. All of these vessels must be added to the sanctions lists. We will continue to increase sanctions pressure on tanker crews, captains, insurers, and the entire infrastructure of the shadow fleet,” Zelensky said.
He instructed the Foreign Intelligence Service to provide partners with new information regarding Russia’s attempts to expand its tanker fleet. The President stressed that the current restrictions on Russia’s maritime oil exports are expected to reduce Russian revenues by at least $30 billion annually.
“Additional pressure will undoubtedly increase the scale of Russia’s losses—and therefore reduce the financing of Russia’s war. We will also inform our partners about new schemes used by Chinese companies that help Russia circumvent sanctions targeting the financial sector,” the President added.
Luhovskyi also informed the President “about partners’ non-public approaches to communicating with the Russian side and their real attitude toward Ukraine and to negotiations at this stage.”
“It is important that all our positions rely on real prospects,” Zelensky emphasized.
