New US sanctions on Russia, harsher than before

Shafaq News/ The US State Department announced on Friday that the United States has imposed "the harshest" sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sectors, which, according to a US official, will cost Russia billions of dollars per month.

The State Department added that the sanctions target eight individuals and entities in Russia linked to the production and export of oil and gas, aiming to deprive Russia of energy resources to undermine its ability to finance its war against Ukraine.

According to Reuters, US has imposed sanctions on more than 180 oil tankers, many of which are part of what is known as Russia’s "shadow fleet."

This fleet is believed to consist of older, unsafe tankers used to secretly transport oil and goods in an effort to bypass Western sanctions on Moscow.

An American official stated that Russia will "do its utmost to evade the sanctions, but doing so will pile on costs."

The official also predicted that the new sanctions could cost Russia billions of dollars per month.

Meanwhile, the UK imposed sanctions on two major Russian oil producers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the new U.S. sanctions on Russia, calling them "a strong blow to the financial foundation of the Russian war machine by disrupting the entire supply chain."

Since February 24, 2022, Russia has been waging a military assault on Ukraine, with Moscow demanding that Kyiv abandon its NATO membership ambitions, which Ukraine views as interference in its internal affairs.