UK announces new sanctions against Russia and £35 million of emergency support for Ukraine

The British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that the UK has provided £35 million of emergency support to help Ukraine repair its energy grid and support the most vulnerable through a third winter of war.

As noted by the British government on its official website, the news comes as the UK also reinforces its support for Ukraine by launching fresh sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector. The sanctions target 20 shadow fleet ships carrying illicit Russian oil, including Ocean Faye, Andaman Skies and Mianzimu, which have each carried more than four million barrels of Russian oil in 2024.

Key lynchpins in enabling the trading of Putin’s precious oil, 2Rivers DMCC and 2Rivers PTE LTD have also been slapped with sanctions.

”These new measures will further drain Putin’s war chest, by clamping down on the oil revenues he so desperately needs to fuel his illegal war and put those who enable Russia’s oil exports on notice,” the statement reads.

The UK has now sanctioned over 100 ships for transporting Russian energy, including 93 oil tankers, more than any other nation. Due to sustained efforts to lead the charge against the shadow fleet, its ships are left idling uselessly outside ports, which is costing Putin and his war effort millions in wasted funds.

As the UK continues to bear down on the Kremlin, it is also working to protect against shadow fleet activity in the Baltic and North Sea. The UK has already spearheaded new action to challenge suspected shadow vessels passing through the English Channel to provide proof of insurance.

It comes as Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland and Estonia, alongside the UK, have now agreed to work together to challenge suspected shadow vessels in the same way along the Baltic route, and in doing so hold shadow vessels and their enablers to account for the risks they pose and the support they provide to Russia’s war machine.

It follows the worst period of Russian missile attacks since the start of the full-scale invasion on February 2022, with an attack last month believed to have left a million Ukrainians without electricity.

Support for emergency energy needs

The package of funding support includes a £20 million uplift to support emergency energy needs, as well as support for carrying out vital repairs to the electricity transmission network and providing further power generation capacity and critical protection for energy infrastructure. This includes a project to generate an additional 20MW of power supply, enough to provide power to up to 20,000 homes.

A further £15 million will provide lifesaving humanitarian support to the most in need as temperatures in Ukraine plummet, while £5m will go to UNICEF to provide basic necessities.

£10 million will be delivered through UNHCR to provide more than 21,000 families with rapid thermal kits, shelter repairs, and additional cash payments for winter, as well as generators and support to local winterisation of collective centers housing vulnerable people who have been displaced from their homes by Russian aggression.

Russia has launched 11 large scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in 2024. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, at least two thirds of power generation has been damaged or destroyed. As winter bites, Ukrainians are suffering without power, lacking light and heating in sub-zero temperatures and dark evenings.

More than 14.6 million Ukrainians require humanitarian assistance, as months of attacks force more and more people from their homes. The UK’s funding will support communities to stem displacement.

More than two thirds of Ukraine’s energy generation capacity has been occupied, damaged or destroyed.

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