EU Council adopted its 21st package of restrictive measures against Russia

The EU Council adopted the 21st sanctions package against Russia through two CFSP instruments. Through Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/1845, the EU Council imposed asset freezing sanctions on 48 individuals and 168 entities targeting the military-industrial supply chain behind Russian UAV production, senior Central Bank officials tied to integrating occupied Ukrainian territory, and cultural and sporting figures who have publicly supported the war. Most of the 168 entities are banks, designated as a source of revenue for the Russian state, with the remainder spanning gold and precious-metals miners, oil and gas producers, defense manufacturers, shipping companies, and IT/hosting infrastructure used for propaganda. Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/1849 added 51 entities to the export-control list for supporting Russia's military-industrial complex, and expanded controlled goods to include specialty metal powders, aerospace films and tapes, and UAV/missile components, alongside new import restrictions on Russian metals and chemicals. It added 33 credit or financial institutions and 14 crypto-asset providers to transaction-ban lists, and introduced a new mechanism to ban crypto transactions with providers based in third countries that fail to prevent sanctions circumvention. On energy, it paused the automatic oil price-cap adjustment until 15 July 2027, banned transactions with refineries processing Russian crude, added 41 vessels to the shadow-fleet list, and created a temporary, capped exemption for LNG transfers to third countries under existing long-term contracts.