Dr. Moritz Brake Talks with "SRF" About The Latest EU Sanctions Against Russia's Shadow Fleet Dr. Moritz Brake Talks with "SRF" About The Latest EU Sanctions Against Russia's Shadow Fleet

On July 18, 2025, the EU adopted its 18th package of sanctions against Russia, with the specific aim of further reducing its revenues from oil exports to third countries and weakening the Russian financial sector. The new sanctions are also intended to affect Russia's maritime trade. In an interview given to the Swiss broadcast company SRF, Dr. Moritz Brake explained that the EU sanctions list had been expanded to include 300 sanctioned ships, meaning that, taking into account the EU partner countries worldwide, a total of 700 ships in the Russian shadow fleet were now affected by sanctions. The maritime security expert also highlighted the significance of the new EU sanctions against Russia's maritime trade. According to Dr. Brake, Russia's sanctioned merchant ships are now denied access to European ports, and the import of Russian oil refined in third countries into the EU is prohibited. However, it should not be forgotten that in recent years, third countries such as India and Turkey have continued to import Russian oil, according to Dr. Brake. Dr. Brake concluded by summarizing the increasing security relevance of the world's oceans and their function as a venue for hybrid warfare.