Russia News

The United States has imposed sanctions on hundreds of entities and individuals for supporting Russia's war effort in Ukraine, including companies supporting the development of Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project and its shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as other future energy projects.The Arctic LNG 2 project by Russia's Novatek is subject to Western sanctions over Russia's conflict with Ukraine. The project had been due to become Russia's largest LNG plant with eventual…

The United States is watching growing cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic closely and some of their recent military collaboration in the region sends "concerning signals", the U.S. Arctic ambassador said.Russia and China have stepped up military cooperation in the Arctic while deepening overall ties in recent years that include China supplying Moscow with dual-use goods despite Western sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.Russia and the United States are among eight countries with territory in the resource-rich Arctic.

Finland's Coast Guard said it has detected constant disturbances to satellite navigation signals in the Baltic Sea since April and in recent weeks has seen tankers spoofing their location data to cover up visits to Russia.Last week, Finland's interior minister Lulu Ranne said Finland believes Russia is behind disturbances detected in Finland and the Baltic Sea region in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) signals used in navigation.The Coast Guard said the GNSS jamming…

“Since September 2024, five merchant ships have been hit by Russian missiles while in Ukrainian ports or waters. These were the first attacks on merchant ships since November 2023 and they could threaten 1% of the world’s dry bulk exports if safety is not improved. The price of war risk insurance has already increased but the impact on exported volumes has so far been limited,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.Throughout 2024 Ukraine has been exporting dry bulk cargoes from its ports in greater Odesa via a corridor close to its coast.

Britain on Thursday sanctioned five vessels and two associated entities involved in the shipping of Russian LNG, with the government saying it was using new legal powers for the first time to target LNG vessels directly."Earlier this year, the UK sanctioned Arctic LNG 2, alongside our allies in the US and EU. Since then, the project has been forced to slash production," the government statement said."Today’s action builds on this by targeting ships and entities involved in the Russian LNG sector…

Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia at the Netherlands' main terminal in Rotterdam have risen in recent months, underlining the need for further sanctions, the Dutch government said on Monday.Imports of Russian LNG at the GATE terminal in Europe's largest sea port have increased in the third quarter, as the average number of Russian carriers that arrived there doubled to two per month, the government said.This increase could be an effect of new sanctions that came into effect this summer…

Russia's seaborne oil product exports in August fell to 9.074 million metric tons, down 2.3% month on month, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed.Russia's offline primary oil refining capacity for August at 2.95 million tons was up from July's level by some 3%, according to Reuters calculations based on data from industry sources.Total oil product exports via the Baltic ports of Primorsk, Vysotsk, St.

The fifth cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Arctic LNG 2 has been picked up by a vessel managed by a company under U.S. sanctions, according to ship tracking data.The Arctic LNG 2 project by Russia's Novatek is also subject to Western sanctions over Russia's war with Ukraine. Novatek has said media allegations the company was involved in establishing and managing a "shadow fleet" for the Arctic LNG 2 project were untrue.On Sept. 14, the Asya Energy vessel berthed at the plant, and departed fully loaded on Sept. 15, according to data from Kpler and LSEG.

Russia will increase oil exports via its western ports to 1.98 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, up by just 30,000 bpd from August, despite expected start of seasonal maintenance on Russian refineries, two trade sources said on Friday.Russia needs to supply its own market with enough crude oil to produce motor fuels essential to meet demand, but normally local refineries start large seasonal maintenance and cut runs, which leads to higher availability of crude oil for exports.Russia's August oil shipments from Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk will rise just 1.5% on a daily basis f

Russia's seaborne diesel and gasoil exports are expected to fall in August to the lowest since September 2023 at 2.7 million-2.8 million metric tons due to refinery maintenance and domestic fuel demand, LSEG and market sources data show.Russia's refinery runs in August were steady or slightly higher than in July, but diesel production is seen declining due to the overhaul of secondary refining units at several refineries, according to traders' data and Reuters calculations.Russian seaborne diesel loadings to Brazil could fall this month to the lowest since February 2023 at around 450…

Ukraine's Navy confirmed on Friday that it had destroyed a ferry in the Russian port of Kavkaz that was used to deliver fuel and weapons to occupied Crimea.Local authorities had earlier said the ferry was set ablaze and damaged in Thursday's attack on the port in Russia's southern Krasnodar region."Another undoubtedly military objective has been destroyed. Its purpose was to provide fuel for the invaders. The ferry sank and this port (Kavkaz) is not usable until the ferry is removed…

President Vladimir Putin appointed security veteran Nikolai Patrushev to head a new body in charge of Russia's naval policy.The new Maritime Board will include councils responsible for developing Russian naval activity and its military fleet, and defending Russian interests in the Arctic, according to a decree issued by Putin.Russia has a massively more powerful navy than Ukraine but has suffered a number of embarrassing setbacks at sea in the course of the two-and-a-half-year war…

Ukraine's navy and military intelligence have attacked and damaged a former offshore gas platform used by Russian forces in the Black Sea, the navy spokesman said on Saturday."The occupiers used this location for GPS spoofing to make civilian navigation dangerous. We cannot allow this to happen," Dmytro Pletenchuk said on Facebook.He posted a video taken at night showing an explosion on an offshore platform and the ensuing fire. He said that a half a day before the attack, Russian forces had stationed equipment and military personnel on the platform."There were no civilians there.

Three ships from Russia’s Baltic Fleet will arrive in Cuba on Saturday, official media said on Thursday, the second visit by Russian naval vessels since June.A brief statement by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces said the visit was routine, but back-to-back naval visits by any country to Cuba have not occurred in decades.Russian news agencies earlier reported on the planned visit, citing Cuba's Defense Ministry.(Reuters - Reporting by Marc Frank, Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Christian Plumb)

A spokesperson for Ukraine's navy said on Wednesday that Russia had pulled all its vessels out of the Sea of Azov, a body of water connected to the Black Sea."There are no longer any Russian naval vessels in the Sea of Azov," the spokesperson, Dmytro Pletenchuk, wrote on Facebook.Ukrainian naval officials have said in recent months that successful attacks on targets in Russian-annexed Crimea and elsewhere in the Black Sea had forced the Russian navy to rebase its ships elsewhere.(Reuters - Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksander Kozhukhar; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Britain added 11 new shipping sanctions under its Russia sanctions regime related to the war in Ukraine, an official notice showed on Thursday.The government said the sanctions on ships including Zaliv Amurskiy and SCF Pechora relate to the carrying of oil or oil products from Russia to a third country.The ships are believed to have the flags of Panama, Gabon and the Cook Islands, the government notice said.Last month, Britain imposed its first sanctions targeting vessels in Russian…

The mayor of the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiisk issued a sea drone alert on Thursday morning, he said on the Telegram messaging app.Mayor Andrei Kravchenko urged locals to stay away from the shoreline. Ukrainian sea drones have in the past attacked Russian ships near the port, disrupting traffic.Novorossiisk is Russia's largest Black Sea port and a key outlet for crude oil and oil product exports in Russia's south.

The Russian navy's Black Sea Fleet has been forced to rebase nearly all its combat-ready warships from occupied Crimea to other locations, and its main naval hub is becoming ineffectual because of attacks by Kyiv, Ukraine's navy chief said.Vice-Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa said Ukrainian missile and naval drone strikes had caused heavy damage to the Sevastopol base, a logistics hub for repairs, maintenance, training and ammunition storage among other important functions for Russia."They were established over many decades, possibly centuries.

Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiisk was operating as normal on Wednesday after an attempted Ukrainian maritime drone attack, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the local administration."There are no restrictions. Shipping goes as normal," Interfax quoted a statement from the local administration.Novorossiisk is Russia's largest Black Sea port and a key outlet for crude oil and oil products exports and transit in Russia's south. It also loads oil coming from Kazkahstan and Azerbaijan and handles grain…

It was only 30 years ago when maritime lost approximately 200 large vessels per year. Despite the mounting risks to shipping globally, its safe to say that safety measures and technology put in place in the interim have paid off, as in 2023 the industry saw 26 large ships lost -- down from 41 a year earlier and the lowest total ever, according to the Allianz Commercial Safety and Shipping Review 2024.While the ship loss numbers continue to fall, the industry still has a significant…

As Russia's war in the Ukraine drags on now into its third year, NATO today launched one of its biggest naval deployments since February 2022, with French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle under the command of the alliance for the first time.The French nuclear-powered carrier began its mission in the Mediterranean Sea, close to its home port of Toulon. Placing the Charles de Gaulle under NATO operational control for the first time is highly symbolic, not least because the…

Russia energy infrastructure has been hit by drone attacks and fires in the past month, adding to uncertainty in global oil and gas markets already rocked by the conflict in the Middle East.Russia and Ukraine have targeted each other's energy infrastructure in strikes designed to disrupt supply lines and logistics and to demoralise their opponent as they try to get the edge in a nearly two-year-old war that shows no sign of ending.Following are recent major incidents at Russian oil facilities in the past month:* A Russian appointed official said on Jan.

Russian ports are operating during more severe storms and easing restrictions for non ice-class vessels during winter, traders said and regulations showed, in an attempt to boost exports following disruptions from Western sanctions and harsh weather.Following the European Union oil embargo, Russia has to rely mostly on seaborne loadings, rather than westbound pipeline supplies via the Druzhba pipeline.Traders and analysts said the easing of restrictions carried technical and ecological risks, but could help Russia's revenues that are heavily reliant on oil.Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft,