European Union ambassadors agreed in Brussels on Wednesday, November 11, to add 145 people and entities to the bloc's sanctions lists against Russia, in a new round aimed at Moscow's financial system, its shadow fleet of oil tankers and its misinformation campaigns, EU diplomats said.

Source: Reuters

The agreement was reached at a meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER), the ambassadors of the EU's 27 member states. The listings are not yet law: EU foreign ministers are expected to formally adopt them at their meeting on Monday, November 16, after which they will take effect when published in the EU's Official Journal.

113 listings under the main Ukraine regime, including 50 banks

Most of the package — 113 designations — falls under the EU's main sanctions regime for actions undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity. European Pravda reported that this part covers 12 individuals and 101 legal entities, including 50 Russian banks, enablers of Russia's shadow fleet, energy companies and additional Russian business leaders.

Source: European Pravda via EuropeSays

The shadow fleet is the network of ageing tankers Russia uses to move its oil around Western price caps and insurance bans. Targeting the banks and the fleet together is meant to squeeze both the money and the shipping that keep Russian oil exports flowing despite earlier rounds of sanctions.

Hybrid activities and cyber tracks

A further 31 people and entities are to be listed under the EU's separate regime for Russia's hybrid activities, which covers alleged foreign information manipulation and misinformation campaigns, and one more entity falls under the bloc's cyberattack sanctions framework, according to the diplomats.

One European diplomat told Reuters that some of the hybrid-activity listings are linked to a drone incident at Leipzig/Halle airport in Germany. That link was attributed to the diplomat and has not been detailed publicly by the EU.

What happens next

The main territorial-integrity regime already carries around 4,500 designations, according to Reuters, and the EU has maintained sanctions on Russia since 2014, expanding them sharply after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Any new round requires the unanimous support of all 27 member states, which has caused delays and last-minute compromises in earlier packages.

If ministers adopt the lists on Monday as expected, the named banks, companies and individuals will face asset freezes and, for individuals, travel bans across the EU. The move comes in the same week the G7 foreign ministers, meeting in Paris, reaffirmed their support for Ukraine and condemned military assistance to Russia from North Korea, Iran and China.