European Union ambassadors have agreed a new package of sanctions against Russia, tightening restrictions on oil shipments and adding a series of individuals accused of information operations and cyberattacks on behalf of Moscow.
The measures, approved at ambassador level in Brussels on 10 December, concentrate on the global oil trade and what EU officials label Russia’s “shadow fleet” of tankers used to move crude outside the G7 price-cap regime. They also extend the blacklist to figures accused of conducting pro-Kremlin influence campaigns and members of Russia’s military intelligence service.
Focus on oil traders and tankers
According to EU diplomats and documents cited by media, the package centres on nine individuals and entities and a further 43 vessels linked to the shadow fleet.
Among those named is Azerbaijani businessman Talat Safarov, chief executive of 2Rivers Group, a United Arab Emirates-based oil trading company. EU documents state that 2Rivers has been involved in shipping Russian oil, including from state-owned producer Rosneft, while masking the crude’s origin.
The EU has also listed Pakistani businessman Murtaza Ali Lakhani, who is described as exercising control over tankers carrying Russian-origin crude or petroleum products and engaging in “irregular and high-risk” shipping patterns. These reportedly include operating without standard insurance cover and switching off vessel tracking systems during voyages.
Three Russian nationals and four companies are also covered. Two of the firms are based in the UAE, one in Vietnam and one in Russia, and are described as owners or managers of tankers that form part of the shadow fleet serving Russian exports.
In a related step due to be formalised on 12 December, EU governments are expected to place 43 additional tankers on an EU-wide list of shadow-fleet vessels. Vessels on that list – which already exceeds 500 ships – are barred from access to services in EU ports, including bunkering, repair and other support.
The measures are intended to reinforce the G7 oil price cap, which currently limits seaborne Russian crude to $47.6 per barrel when transported with Western-linked services. Brussels argues that Russia has increasingly relied on older, re-flagged and often uninsured vessels to move oil outside the cap and reduce the impact of previous sanctions.
Action against pro-Kremlin information operations
Beyond the maritime sector, the new package expands the EU’s list of individuals accused of destabilising activities and disinformation on Russia’s behalf.
The updated blacklist includes John Mark Dougan, a dual US-Russian national and former deputy sheriff from Florida who has lived in Russia for nearly a decade. EU officials say he has taken part in online information operations from Moscow aimed at influencing elections, discrediting political figures and shaping political debate in Western countries.
A former Swiss Army colonel, Jacques Baud, is also listed. The EU decision describes him as acting as a prominent public advocate of pro-Russian narratives, including the claim that Ukraine somehow engineered its own invasion to secure NATO membership. Former French officer Xavier Moreau is cited for similar activities, with both men described as regular commentators spreading narratives aligned with Kremlin positions.
Three Russian analysts – Dmitry Suslov, Fyodor Lukyanov and Andrei Sushentsov – are likewise added to the sanctions roll. All are linked by EU documents to the Valdai Discussion Club, a forum that has long been associated with Russia’s leadership. Brussels contends that their work contributes to the dissemination of Kremlin-origin disinformation in foreign policy debates.
Cyber operations and GRU officers
The package also targets officers from Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). Those listed are accused of responsibility for a series of cyber operations conducted in recent years against Ukraine and several EU member states.
These actions, according to EU assessments, have included attempts to disrupt critical infrastructure, steal data and interfere with political and administrative systems. The listings provide for asset freezes within the EU and travel bans on the named individuals.
Part of an evolving sanctions regime
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU has adopted a sequence of sanctions packages that combine sectoral measures – such as restrictions on energy, finance and technology – with an extensive blacklist of individuals and entities. As of mid-2025, EU restrictive measures against Russia already comprised 19 packages, with earlier rounds in 2024 and 2025 also concentrating on the shadow fleet and circumvention of the oil price cap.
Officials in Brussels describe the latest decisions as part of a longer-term strategy to tighten enforcement rather than broaden the scope of sanctions. The emphasis has shifted over time from new sectoral embargoes towards identifying specific schemes and intermediaries alleged to be helping Russia work around existing restrictions, particularly in the energy and technology sectors.
The new listings will take legal effect once they are published in the EU’s Official Journal, following final written approval procedures in Brussels. From that point, all individuals and entities named will be subject to an asset freeze in the EU, and EU persons and companies will be prohibited from making funds or economic resources available to them.
The additional 43 tankers will, once formally confirmed, be barred from receiving any form of service in EU ports, adding to mounting constraints on the logistics of Russian seaborne exports.
