Brussels, 16 December (H.S.): The European Union unleashed its latest salvo against Moscow's war chest on Monday, sanctioning nine pivotal figures and firms underpinning Russia's clandestine shadow fleet of oil tankers, thereby throttling illicit crude exports that have sustained the Kremlin's Ukrainian offensive despite 19 prior sanction waves.

Prominent among the designees is Canadian-Pakistani magnate Murtaza Lakhani, 63-year-old CEO of Mercantile & Maritime Group—with outposts in Singapore and London—who stands accused of orchestrating Rosneft shipments via high-risk vessels that obfuscate cargo origins, a nexus forged during his Glencore tenure on Iraqi oil and deepened through Rosneft's Arctic Vostok Oil venture alongside Vitol.

Complicating the tableau, Azerbaijani Etibar Eyyub, alongside Anar Madatli and Talat Safarov of UAE-based 2Rivers Group (formerly Coral Energy), faces prohibitions for Lukoil-linked trades, while Valery Kildiyarov, finance director at Litasco Middle East DMCC, joins UAE, Vietnamese, and Russian shipping entities in the crosshairs.

These measures—barring EU dealings, asset freezes, and maritime denials—herald over 40 additional tankers this week, swelling the bloc's proscribed flotilla toward 600 amid Russia's pivot to discounted sales for India and China.

This 20th iteration, chronicled in the EU Official Journal, underscores Brussels' dogged campaign to starve Putin's revenues, even as Moscow adroitly adapts through opaque ownerships and perilous practices; the targeted operatives, unresponsive to queries, embody an underground nexus blending Rosneft, Lukoil, and rogue hauliers that has evaded G7 price caps since 2022.

As Berlin peace parleys intensify, these fiscal fetters signal Europe's resolve to amplify economic duress, compelling Russia toward capitulation without firing a shot.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar