The Council of the European Union on July 23 adopted its 21st package of sanctions against Russia in response to the continuing war against Ukraine.
The new sanctions lists include 218 individuals and entities — 48 people and 170 organizations. The Council of the EU described it as the largest number of individual listings in a single package in the past four years.
The package also expands restrictions on the financial and cryptocurrency sectors. Another 33 Russian credit and financial institutions, four banks in third countries and 14 crypto platforms located outside the EU were subjected to transaction bans.
The European Union also added another 41 vessels associated with Russia’s “shadow fleet” to its sanctions list. Restrictions were expanded to cover entities servicing such vessels.
In the energy sector, the EU suspended the automatic mechanism for adjusting the price cap on Russian oil until July 2027 and created additional grounds for restrictions targeting refineries and companies linked to Russia’s energy sector.
The European Union has steadily expanded its sanctions regime against Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.