'Deal with the devil': UK ships helping Putin raise £700m a month to fund his war

British firms are helping Vladimir Putin rake in more than £700m a month to fund his war by assisting Russian gas shipments heading to and from Europe and Asia, The i Paper can reveal.

Ministers last month unveiled measures designed to crack down on the trade, banning UK companies from providing services such as icebreaker tankers and insurance for Russian LNG exports in a bid to stop funding Putin’s war machine.

But an exemption until next January will permit UK support for shipments from Russia’s two biggest LNG production facilities – Yamal LNG and Sakhalin-2 – allowing the Kremlin to make billions from fossil fuel exports in the coming months, campaigners and politicians have warned.

Shorts

As the UK grapples with fuel supply issues caused by the Iran war, officials and industry insiders accuse the Government of having “opened the door for Russia to fund its war economy” in its efforts to avoid a supply shock to Europe.