US and UK Slap Comprehensive Sanctions on Russian Oil Industry: Checkmate or an Oil Game?
The United States and the United Kingdom took a bold step on Friday that could be described as “checkmating Moscow’s war chest.” New sanctions targeted two of Russia’s oil giants, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, in an attempt to slash revenues financing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It would now appear that the US Treasury has engaged in a chess game in which Moscow is steadily losing its pieces. But here is the kicker: These sanctions ensnared a total of 183 vessels for allegedly forming part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”-a secretive network of…