EU adopts 20th Russia sanctions package targeting energy, banks, crypto and military supply chains
The European Union approved a 20th sanctions package against Russia, expanding curbs on oil shipping, banks, crypto platforms, military procurement networks and trade routes used to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
BRUSSELS, April 23, 2026 — The Council of the European Union said it adopted its 20th package of sanctions against Russia, combining 120 new individual listings with broader economic restrictions aimed at cutting energy revenue, disrupting the military-industrial complex and tightening pressure on financial services and trade, including crypto activity.
The package adds 46 vessels to the EU’s shadow fleet list, bringing the total to 632 ships subject to a port access ban and related maritime services restrictions. It also lays the basis for a future maritime services ban on Russian crude oil and petroleum products, in coordination with the Group of Seven and the Price Cap Coalition, and requires due diligence checks on tanker sales. The measures also ban transactions with the Russian ports of Murmansk and Tuapse and with the Karimun oil terminal in Indonesia, which the EU said was being used to circumvent the oil price cap.
In finance, the EU imposed a transaction ban on 20 Russian banks and on four third-country financial institutions accused of helping sanctions evasion or linking to Russia’s financial messaging system. The bloc also introduced a sectoral ban on Russian crypto asset transfer and exchange providers and platforms, designated a Kyrgyz entity tied to trading in the state-backed stablecoin A7A5, banned transactions involving RUBx and barred EU support for development of the digital rouble.
The measures also target Russia’s defense base, with 58 companies and associated individuals designated for involvement in military goods production, including drones, and 60 more entities facing tighter export controls. The Council said 16 of the designated entities are based in China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Belarus.
On trade, the EU said it was activating its anti-circumvention tool for the first time by banning exports of computer numerical control machines and radios to Kyrgyzstan because of a high risk of re-export to Russia. It also widened export and import bans covering hundreds of millions of euros worth of industrial goods, chemicals, metals and other materials.
The package further includes listings tied to the abduction and indoctrination of Ukrainian children, the appropriation of Ukrainian cultural heritage and propaganda activity, along with parallel new Belarus-related sanctions.
Regulatory Actions
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