On 24 February 2023, exactly one year following the invasion of Ukraine, the UK announced a fresh round of sanctions against Russia. The new package will include export prohibitions on all battlefield equipment used by Russia, including aircraft parts, radio equipment, and electronic components. All of which are crucial to Russia's military industry, including the production of drone (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs).

In addition to prohibiting these exports, the UK will also ban imports of 140 commodities, including iron and steel products processed in third countries.

The UK has also announced that the existing measures will be extended against Crimea, and non-government controlled territory in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, to target the Russian controlled areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, restricting their access to UK trade and finance.

These new sanctions are expected to be implemented through amendments to the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which applies to the UK. These would constitute the 18^th round of amendments (enhancements) to the sanctions on Russia by the UK since the beginning of the war.

Under the terms of the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act 2018 and the Russia (Sanctions) (Overseas Territories) Order 2020 (and applicable local law), the 2019 regulations are automatically extended to the UK Overseas Territories including the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands.

The official press release can be found here.

New designations

At the same time, new designations have been imposed on:

• 4 banks - Bank St Petersburg PJSC, Bank Uralsib PJSC, Bank Zenit PJSC, and MTS Bank PJSC
• 17 high-ranking executives at Rosatom, a Russian state-owned nuclear power company
• 34 executives from Russia’s two largest defence firms: Rostec, Russia’s multibillion state owned defence conglomerate and Almaz-Antey Corporation, a state owned Russian company specialising in producing surface to air missiles and firearms for aircrafts
• 6 Russian entities involved in the manufacture or repair of military equipment for Russia’s armed forces, including aviation and navy
• 5 senior Iranian executives in Qods Aviation Industry, the company manufacturing the drones used in Ukraine
• Other members of Russia’s elite, including: Mattias Warnig: CEO of Nord Stream 2, and previously a member of the boards of Russian energy companies Transneft and Rosneft; Lyubov Kabaeva: mother of former Russian gymnast and Duma Deputy Alina Kabaeva; Alexei Dyumin: formerly Presidential chief security guard; Alexei Kozak: son of the former Deputy Prime Minister
• 20 executives of Gazprom and Aeroflot, including Gazprom Chairman and former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov and 2 current Russian ministers

Please see our UK sanctions table here.