European Council tightens Russia sanctions targeting 74 shadow fleet vessels 53 entities and SPFS-linked banks

The European Council adopted Council Decision (CFSP) 2025/394, expanding EU restrictive measures in response to Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine. The package targets 74 vessels linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet”, adds 53 entities supporting Russia’s military and industrial complex, broadens export controls, and introduces additional import restrictions including on primary aluminium. The measures also introduce a transaction ban on three credit or financial institutions established outside Russia that use the Central Bank of Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), and extend the prohibition on providing specialised financial messaging services to 13 regional Russian banks. Further steps include suspending EU broadcasting licences for eight Russian media outlets, imposing a transaction ban with certain listed Russian ports, locks and airports used for military or circumvention purposes, and widening the EU flight ban to listed air carriers operating domestic flights within Russia. Additional restrictions cover software related to oil and gas exploration, extend prohibitions on goods, technology and services for completing crude oil projects in Russia, and ban the provision of temporary storage in the EU for Russian crude oil and petroleum products. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway and Ukraine aligned themselves with the Decision and committed to ensuring their national policies conform to it.