LOC16:16
13:16 GMT
LONDON, May 5 (KUNA) -- Russiaآ’s "shadow fleet" will be hit on Friday with the largest ever sanctions package ramping up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and protecting UK and European critical national infrastructure, Prime Minister Office statement said.
The Government will today sanction up to 100 oil tankers that form a core part of Putinآ’s shadow fleet operation and are responsible for carrying more than USD 24 billion worth of cargo since the start of 2024.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "Every step we take to increase pressure on Russia and achieve a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine .. another step towards security and prosperity in the UK.
"The threat from Russia to our national security cannot be underestimated, that is why we will do everything in our power to destroy his shadow fleet operation, starve his war machine of oil revenues and protect the subsea infrastructure that we rely on for our everyday lives.
"My government will safeguard working people from paying the price from the costly threat Putinآ’s fleet poses to UK critical national infrastructure and the environment."
Putin uses the shadow fleet to cling onto his oil revenues and prop up the Russian oil industry. Thanks to Western sanctions, Russiaآ’s oil and gas revenues have fallen every year since 2022 losing over a third of its value in three years, he added.
Sanctions and the cost of "his barbaric war are causing the Russian economy to stall with the wealth fund hollowed out, inflation rising and government spend on defence and security spiraling, Starmer stated. (end)
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