Sanctions

The UK unveiled its biggest Russia sanctions package in years on Tuesday, targeting Moscow’s shadow fleet and the key networks and infrastructure that have helped keep crude exports flowing since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Blockchain forensics firm Elliptic has identified four cryptocurrency exchanges that allegedly facilitate Russia sanctions evasion, including by helping to convert rubles into crypto-assets and move value across borders without the direct aid of traditional banking channels. 

Binance internal investigators found last year that about $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency flowed from two accounts on the exchange to Iranian entities with links to terrorist groups, raising potential violations of global sanctions.

Hungary plans to block an EU sanctions package targeting Moscow and major new loans intended for Kyiv unless oil shipments resume through the Druzhba pipeline crossing western Ukraine. 

A blacklisted, former Belarusian official is working with Russia to disguise the origin of agricultural products from Ukraine’s occupied territories, according to new reporting by Ukrinform. The news agency, which is Ukraine’s only national news service and is controlled by the country’s Cabinet of Ministers, said it based its reporting on documents obtained by the Belarusian opposition group […]

An IT misconfiguration has exposed an apparent network of oil traders that has helped move at least $90 billion of Russian crude and has become central to keeping export revenues flowing to the Kremlin, the Financial Times reported Friday. 

U.S. and Iranian officials are describing progress in their ongoing nuclear negotiations even as both sides accelerate visible preparations for a conflict that officials and analysts now frame as a genuine near-term risk.

Asian trading networks continue to route European-made dual-use technology into Russia’s war economy, exploiting gaps in the continent’s sanctions designations and enforcement, according to new research published by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation.

Ukraine has imposed sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing the Belarusian leader of playing an increasingly larger role in Russia’s war efforts, UNITED24 Media reported. 

Russia is exploiting a network of front companies, influence agents, and third-country logistics routes to obtain German-made components needed for its attack drones and missiles.