UK Parliament research library updates its Russia sanctions briefing
4 August 2026
hyotographics/Shutterstock.comThe House of Commons Library has updated its briefing, 'Sanctions against Russia: What has changed since January 2025?'. The updated briefing covers developments in UK, US and EU sanctions against Russia.
- On the UK, the briefing records 3,450 designations under the Russia regime as of 24 July 2026, including 620 shadow-fleet vessels. It adds the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, which phase in a third-country refined-oil import ban to 1 January 2027 and introduce a Russian-LNG maritime services ban and a uranium import ban. It also records the first UK seizure of a shadow-fleet tanker.
- On the US, the briefing sets out the expiry of the seaborne-oil waiver in June 2026, which temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian-origin oil already in transit after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the revived Sanctioning Russia Act, which President Trump now backs and wants extended to Iran.
- On the EU, it covers the 21st sanctions package, the largest batch of individual listings in four years, alongside a first crewing-agency designation and a twelve-month suspension of the oil price cap's automatic readjustment.
See our UK legislative materials pages for more UK parliamentary Russia sanctions briefings.
