---
title: "New blow to logistics: EU introduces unprecedented sanctions against Belarusian refineries and the 'shadow fleet'"
description: "The EU has introduced its largest sanctions package against Russia, including Belarusian refineries and the 'shadow fleet'. 🚢🛢️ Kaja Kallas confirmed restrictions on 218 items, including plants supplying Moscow with fuel. Gasoline supplies from Belarus to Russia increased 20-fold in six months; this channel will now be blocked. 📉🇪🇺"
date: 2026-07-23T14:23:56.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/eu-introduces-unprecedented-sanctions-against-belarusian-refineries-and-shadow-fleet
tags: [kaja-kallas, eu-sanctions, belarus-refineries, shadow-fleet]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# New blow to logistics: EU introduces unprecedented sanctions against Belarusian refineries and the 'shadow fleet'

![European Commissioner Vestager in a hall with EU flags during discussions on new sanctions against Belarusian refineries and shadow fleet](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/23/es-vvodit-sanktsii-protiv-beloruskih-npz-i-tenevogo-flota/es-vvodit-sanktsii-protiv-beloruskih-npz-i-tenevogo-flota-1.webp)

The European Union is preparing a massive blow to the energy infrastructure supporting the Russian war machine. On Thursday, July 23, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, officially announced the introduction of restrictions against Belarusian oil refineries (ORs). This decision became part of the largest sanctions package adopted since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

### Largest sanctions package ever

According to Kaja Kallas, the new list of restrictions is the most extensive in the history of the conflict. It includes 218 items, indicating the EU's shift to a tougher and more detailed pressure strategy. The scope of the sanctions has expanded far beyond traditional financial restrictions.

Among the new sanctioned entities:

    - More than 100 banks and crypto operators used to bypass restrictions;

    - More than 40 ships belonging to the so-called "shadow fleet";

    - Oil refineries in Russia and Belarus;

    - 50 defense enterprises, including manufacturers of long-range drones.

Kallas emphasized that this is not Brussels' final step, and work on new measures of impact continues.

### Focus on Belarusian refineries

Special attention in the new package is paid to the Belarusian oil refining industry. Two key enterprises operate in the country: the Mozyr and Novopolotsk refineries. The combined capacity of these plants is about 24 million tons of oil per year. Historically, they supplied the domestic market, as well as exported products to Russia and other countries.

The situation in the fuel market has changed radically after the start of the crisis in Russia. Due to regular strikes on Russian refineries, which have been attacked dozens of times by Ukrainian drones since the beginning of the year, Moscow was forced to increase fuel purchases from Minsk. Russian plants, in turn, have reduced refining to a minimum unseen since the early 2000s.

### Sharp increase in supplies to Russia

Statistics show an explosive growth in Moscow's dependence on Belarusian fuel. According to Reuters, in June, gasoline supplies from Belarusian refineries to the Russian market exceeded 181,000 tons. This is three times higher than the figures for May, when the volume was 77,000 tons.

Overall, by the end of the first half of the year, gasoline purchases in Belarus increased 20-fold — to 453,000 tons. Previously, Russia expressed readiness to compensate for the lost capacity of its own plants, which made Belarusian refineries a critically important link in the Kremlin's fuel logistics. Now, falling under sanctions, these enterprises become the next front in the economic war.