16th EU sanctions mark 3rd anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine

Foreign ministers of various European Union member nations today, 24 February, put out a 16th list of sanctions against member Russia for its aggression against Ukraine — which is not a member nation (yet).

This comes on the third anniversary of Russia's continuing war on Ukraine.

The post-Brexit UK agreed on the punitive approach, unveiling its own list of more than 100 sanctions — but not just against Russia...

London's 'package', designed to disrupt 'Russia's military machine, entities in third countries who support it and the fragile supply networks that it relies on', also takes issue with arms producers and suppliers in Central Asia, Turkey, Thailand, China... and India. 

It is UK's largest set of actions in the last three years, counting from the first wave of sanctions when Russia first attacked its neighbour.

"Every military supply line disrupted, every rouble blocked, and every enabler of Putin's aggression exposed is a step towards a just and lasting peace," said British foreign secretary David Lammy, laying out the logic emphatically. 

Among those disruptions is the one directed at North Korea, accused of providing 11,000-plus of its own troops for Putin's benefit. Also sanctioned are ships suspected of being on Moscow's 'shadow fleet', per the Moscow Times itself.

There's also a list of 14 'kleptocrats', including Russia's wealthiest man, Roman Trotsenko — Eastern Europe's answer to Elon Musk, if you will.

Coincidentally, prime minister Keir Starmer is expected to meet US president Donald Trump on Thursday, 27 February — potentially to broker some sort of icebreaker deal between the EU and the US, which has been lately wooing Putin and distancing itself from Zelenskyy.

Indeed, Trump might even be said to be almost baiting his Ukrainian counterpart lately — a kindness the younger leader has returned in kind.

Meanwhile, over in Europe, the sanctions include a novel strategy too — going after the cryptocurrency exchange.

The EU too has gone after the same Russian 'shadow fleet' — and also a ban on primary aluminium imports, per a Firstpost report, to be applied in stages for the next year ahead, peaking on 26 February 2026. (That date, incidentally, does not speak of great hopes for a peaceable conclusion to the war anytime soon.

Also on the anvil and under EU's hammer: gaming consoles!

"This new round of sanctions not only targets the Russian shadow fleet but those who support the operation of unsafe oil tankers, videogame controllers used to pilot drones, banks used to circumvent our sanctions, and propaganda outlets used to spout lies," EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas reportedly told the AFP news agency.