Hey,
Something happened today at the G7 in France that didn't get the attention it deserved. Canada announced a new round of sanctions against Russia and this time the target is the operation that's been making every previous sanction less effective.
@deanbrownca Canada Just Sanctioned the Secret Oil Network Funding Russia’s War#cdnpolitics #cdnpoli #canadianpolitics #greenscreen
Prime Minister Carney announced the new sanctions during a meeting at the G7 summit with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. The package targets 162 individuals, entities, and vessels. MLT Aikins
The vessels are the story. Russia runs what's known as a shadow fleet — roughly 600 to 800 aging oil tankers that intentionally disable their tracking systems, conceal their ownership, and engage in covert ship-to-ship transfers to move Russian oil without getting caught. These aren't modern ships. 96% of the crude tankers in the fleet are older than fifteen years. They exist for one purpose — to keep Russian oil money flowing while the world looks the other way. CBC News
Here's why that matters. Western countries have been sanctioning Russia since 2022. And yet Russian fossil fuel exports still generate around €464 million in revenue every single day. The shadow fleet is how Russia kept selling oil to anyone willing to buy it, regardless of what the G7 said. CBC News
What's changing now is the approach. In 2026 alone, Canada has sanctioned more than 3,400 individuals and entities and listed over 600 vessels, while providing $2.8 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. The shift is from listing names to targeting the actual infrastructure keeping Russia funded.
Sanctions without enforcement are just press releases. Canada has been listing names for four years while Russia's oil revenues climbed. Going after the ships directly: the actual vessels moving the oil is the first move that actually threatens the money. Whether the rest of the G7 follows with the same teeth will tell us everything about whether this works.
Russia bombed the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery this week - one of the most sacred sites in Eastern Christianity, dating back to 1051. It received almost no coverage in Western media.
As of early 2026, 111 vessels that had already been sanctioned by at least one country were still loading Russian oil - showing just how hard these ships are to stop. CBC News
Zelenskyy personally thanked Canada on X today following the Carney meeting, calling the new sanctions package a signal that the West hasn't forgotten Ukraine.
Until next time,
Dean