EU adopts largest sanctions package on Russia: 218 names and 100+ banks and crypto platforms among those on the list

The European Union has adopted its largest sanctions package against Russia in four years, targeting the banks, oil refineries, and drone-manufacturing networks that fund Moscow's war in Ukraine. The Council of the EU approved the measures on 23 July.

The EU has sanctioned Russia its 2014 seizure of Crimearolling out numbered packages every few months since the 2022 full-scale invasion, even as member states repeatedly clash over how far each package should reach. Because sanctions take months to negotiate and adopt, Russia has repeatedly adapted and evaded many restrictions using various evasion schemes.

What the package includes

The 21st round adds 218 new designations, 48 individuals and 170 entities, the biggest batch of listings in four years. The Council said the package aims to further weaken Russia's economy and war machine, in response to Russia's recent strikes on civilian energy, water, and health infrastructure.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc is hitting over a hundred banks and crypto operators, more than 40 shadow fleet vessels, and several oil refineries in Russia and Belarus, plus more than 50 military-industrial entities tied to Russia's long-range drones.

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The 21st package covers several sectors. It includes:

• Banks and finance: asset freezes on 94 banks and financial institutions, a transaction ban extended to 33 more Russian credit institutions, a Kyrgyz bank linked to Russia, and three other non-Russian banks accused of helping Moscow evade sanctions.
• Crypto: 14 platforms in Georgia, Panama, the UAE, the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus added to the transaction ban, plus a first-time option for a full EU ban on crypto providers in an entire third country.
• Oil price cap: automatic adjustments paused until 15 July 2027 amid market disruption from the Strait of Hormuz closure.
• Shadow fleet: rules widened to cover fuel and support providers, with 41 tankers added to a blacklist already covering 632 ships.
• Oil sector: 18 entities and one individual designated, including three Russian refineries and a major Belarusian one, plus a new tool to ban third-country refineries processing Russian crude, applied to one in Kulevi, Georgia, effective in six months.
• Drone supply chains: 56 listings tied to Russia's military-industrial complex, 37 linked to long-range drones, and 51 more entities facing tighter dual-use export curbs, including firms in China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, and the UAE.
• Visa ban: legal basis laid for a future EU-wide ban on current and former Russian military personnel, with no effective date set. A European Commission official told Suspilne details could take until October, with Italy and France objecting over scope.
• Propaganda and war crimes: eight individuals sanctioned for spreading Russian war propaganda, and a Russian major general designated over the torture, execution, and desecration of Ukrainian prisoners of war, building on human rights sanctions from 13 July.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked EU member states, calling the package a set of strong steps to limit Russian revenue. Acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the measures too, singling out the visa-ban groundwork as a step to keep who fight for, aid, or profit from the war out of the EU.