UK ramps up sanctions against Russian shadow fleet, crypto industry
The U.K., the EU, and Ukraine have all targeted crypto schemes in recent sanctions packages as Russia uses the technology to evade existing sanctions.
The United Kingdom has intensified its sanctions against Russia by introducing 38 new listings on October 8. These sanctions aim to target ships assisting Russia in circumventing existing sanctions, as well as entities within the country's military-industrial complex and cryptocurrency industry. Among the companies under scrutiny is Xeltox Enterprises, which operates the cryptocurrency firm Cryptomus.
Xeltox has been implicated in benefiting from or supporting the Russian government by engaging in business within a strategically significant sector, specifically the financial services industry.
Russia has increasingly resorted to using cryptocurrency, which is difficult to trace, to bypass global sanctions. This trend has led the UK, the EU, and Ukraine to incorporate crypto schemes into their recent sanctions packages. In addition to the new sanctions, the UK has also added 12 vessels to its sanctioned ship list. These ships are accused of being part of Russia's "shadow fleet" – dilapidated vessels suspected of aiding Moscow in evading price caps and bans on oil and gas trade.
This brings the total number of ships sanctioned by the UK to 645, and the overall count of Russia sanctions to 3,537.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Independent's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
