EU Sanctions 81 Over Russia Shadow Fleet, Navalny
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- European Council added 34 individuals and 47 entities to its sanctions list, targeting Russia's military-industrial complex, shadow oil and gas tanker fleet, and political interference activities
- Tahir Garayev (founder of Coral Energy, later 2Rivers Group) and Konstantin Rogach were sanctioned for enabling Russian crude exports — Garayev through a network of companies concealing oil's true origin from sanctioned giant Rosneft, Rogach for facilitating insurance and administrative services for Russian oil vessels
- 15 individuals including Russian judges and prosecutors were sanctioned over the 2024 poisoning death of opposition figure Alexei Navalny
- Sanctions also hit disinformation spreaders, including journalists, a Russian social media influencer, and Georgiy Shevkunov, a bishop in the Russian Orthodox Church, for 'justifying, promoting or legitimising' Russia's war
- EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said member states are currently discussing a 21st package of wider sanctions
- Kallas estimated EU sanctions have cost Russia's economy between €1 trillion and €1.3 trillion ($1.16 trillion) to date
Why it matters: The EU's 81 new designations show Brussels broadening its pressure campaign from energy-supply enablers to the judicial officials involved in Navalny's death and information-warfare actors — sectors of Russia's war apparatus that until now have been less directly targeted. Kallas's €1–1.3 trillion cost estimate, combined with an upcoming 21st sanctions package, signals the bloc is still searching for leverage as the war grinds on.
