Russia is attempting to build a new "shadow fleet" to "circumvent sanctions and sustain revenues from its gas exports," the UK Foreign Office said on 1 October. Britain sanctioned eight vessels linked to the trade, including some that entered service this year, as part of a 31-designation package.

The sanctions come as the EU prepares to end imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), which arrives by tanker, from the beginning of 2027. London presented the package as part of a push to increase economic pressure on Moscow before winter, noting that Russia launched more than 3,100 jet-powered drones at Ukraine in September, beating the wartime record it had set in August.

The UK sanctions target three shadow fleet vessels, two vessels providing them with bunkering services, and three Russian-owned ice-class vessels, according to the UK Foreign Office.

Russian-built ice-class tankers

The sanctioned vessels include the Russian-flagged Aleksey Kosygin and Konstantin Posiet, which are among a new generation of LNG tankers, The Telegraph reported. The vessels were assembled in Russia and are designed to break through ice up to two meters thick. The Aleksey Kosygin was delivered in December 2025 before entering service this year, according to the paper.

The other sanctioned vessels are the Pyotr Stolypin, Portovyy, Chaivo, Avacha, Bebek-E, and Galle Energy, according to the UK Sanctions Notice. The Telegraph reported that the Pyotr Stolypin entered service this year, while Bebek-E was built in 1979 and Galle Energy is a 75-foot crew transport vessel flagged in Sri Lanka.

From oil tankers to gas carriers

Moscow has also long been accused of moving its oil past Western restrictions using what The Telegraph describes as “a secretive fleet of ageing tankers often with obscure ownership and insurance.” The EU said it had placed more than 670 vessels on its shadow fleet sanctions list as of 23 July, while the UK government said it had targeted nearly 600 tankers.

In June, Britain sanctioned four LNG carriers—the Orion, Merkuriy, Kosmos, and Luch—which are listed in the UK Sanctions List with shipping and trade sanctions. gCaptain reported that the vessels had been purchased through intermediaries, reflagged, and renamed, and were sailing toward China after LNG was transferred to them ship-to-ship near Murmansk.

Later in June, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service said Russia was assembling a fleet of aging gas tankers ahead of the EU restrictions. The service said seven of about 23 vessels had been bought through front companies between February 2024 and May 2025, and that their use “allows Russia to partially circumvent restrictions.”

Sanctions spare LNG bound for Japan and South Korea

The package also targets Novatek Gas and Power Asia, a Singapore subsidiary of Russia's largest LNG producer, Novatek. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions policy, described it as Novatek’s Singapore trading arm in a post on X.

The new package leaves a limited route for some Russian LNG to continue reaching Japan and South Korea. The UK said existing licensing arrangements have been extended to cover LNG, on a targeted and time-limited basis, to support the two countries’ energy security.

Vlasiuk said Russia’s Arctic gas is “one of the Kremlin’s key future revenue streams,” and that “it must stay frozen,” according to his post on X. He also thanked the UK for taking Ukraine’s proposals into account.

Torture and child indoctrination also targeted

The 1 October package contained 31 designations in total. It also targeted eight people involved in the arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment of Ukrainian civilians and seven people over the indoctrination and militarization of Ukrainian children, according to the UK government. The government said international sanctions have already deprived Russia of nearly $500bn in funding for its war effort.

UFORCE, a Ukrainian defense company, says it fielded 11 crewless boats and eight drones at NATO's largest unmanned-systems exercise in Portugal, Militarnyi reported. The firm's crews acted as both mock enemy and allied forces alongside Ukraine's Navy during the 31 August–25 September drills. The turnout more than doubled the company's presence at last year's exercise, when it brought five vessels.

Ukraine began the all-out war without large warships, yet uncrewed boats drove Russia's Black Sea Fleet out of its main base on the Black Sea—a result that now pulls far larger navies to the same ranges to test the weapon for themselves.

Ukraine brings its sea-drone playbook to Portugal's NATO exercise

UFORCE joined REPMUS 26, the Portuguese Navy's annual exercise, co-organized with NATO, where member states try out robots and drones built for combat at sea. This year the company widened its presence sharply, UFORCE said on LinkedIn. Across the scenarios, its crews ran strikes, reconnaissance, and defense.

At the center sat the MV7, an uncrewed boat UFORCE showed in every setup it offers. Across its configurations, the MV7 carried interceptors, FPV drones, other kinetic weapons, and electronic-warfare gear. Crews launched flying drones straight off the decks while the boats sat on the water, all run by a single control program.

The company brought three systems to REPMUS for the first time: the Nemesis SeaStrike drone, which launches from the MV7, the MV11 boat, and a supply vessel called L11. UFORCE teams worked beside Ukraine's Navy throughout. Portuguese President António José Seguro inspected the MV7 on the pier, the company said.

Not Ukraine's first visit

Ukraine was at REPMUS last year, too. At REPMUS 2025, a Ukrainian-led "enemy" team beat NATO's side across all five drill scenarios and, in one, landed enough mock strikes on a NATO frigate to have sunk it in a real battle. Ukraine also brought the upgraded Magura v7.2 to that year's drills.

An explosion aboard the Eco Wizard tanker in Russia's Ust-Luga port caused an ammonia leak and is under investigation, the Russian Transportation Ministry announced on July 6.

Explosions have damaged five tankers at Russian ports since the beginning of the year.

The Russian Transportation Ministry alleged that "a minor leak of liquid ammonia" occurred at the Ust-Luga seaport in Leningrad Oblast due to "an incident" while unloading and loading the Eco Wizard tanker.

According to the Russian Telegram news channel Baza, "an explosion of an unknown nature" preceded the leak.

The ship's 23-person crew was evacuated and port emergency services are working on site to eliminate the consequences. Loading operations were stopped and emergency rescue services put on high alert. Russian Transportation Minister Roman Starovoit held a meeting on the incident and a diving inspection of the vessel is planned.

No casualties have been reported.

The Eco Wizard tanker arrived in Ust-Luga from Antwerp, Belgium on July 3, according to ship-tracking data from VesselFinder. The vessel was built in 2024 to transport liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and flies the flag of the Marshall Islands.

The vessel is suspected to belong to Russia's "shadow fleet," a group of tankers Moscow uses to circumvent sanctions.

A week prior to the Eco Wizard explosion, a blast occurred on the shadow fleet tanker Vilamoura shortly after it visited Russian ports. The ship was carrying 1 million barrels of oil at the time of the explosion.

The Eco Wizard is the sixth tanker linked to Russia to have suffered an explosion since the start of this year.

Ukraine war latest: Drones attack Russia’s Black Sea Fleet; Russian pipelines explode in country’s Far East, HUR says

Key developments on July 5-6: * Drones reportedly attack Russia’s Black Sea fleet * Pipelines supplying Russian military explode in Russia’s Far East, HUR source says * Ukrainian drone strike on Russian airfield hits bomb depot, aircraft * Ukraine hits Russian electronic warfare facility making Shahed, Iskander components, General Staff says * Ukraine’s army chief warns of new Russian offensives in northeast as he visits Kharkiv Oblast front Drones attacked Russia’s Black Sea Fleet at the

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk