The United Kingdom has imposed new sanctions targeting a Nigeria-linked entity accused of being part of a wider financial network used to support Russia’s war effort and bypass Western restrictions.
The measure forms part of a broader sanctions package announced during the G7 Summit, which targets Russia’s military procurement chains, shadow oil fleet, and illicit finance networks used to sustain its war in Ukraine.
According to the UK government, the latest round of sanctions includes “several organisations helping Russia illegally move money, bypassing Western sanctions,” with one entity in Nigeria identified as being linked to the A7 sanctions-evasion network.
Last month, Nigeria narrowly escaped being directly affected by the United Kingdom’s tightened sanctions regime targeting petroleum products refined from Russian crude oil in third-party jurisdictions.
Under the new measures introduced on May 20, the UK moved to close what it described as a “refining loophole” that previously allowed Russian-origin crude to be processed in third countries and re-exported into Western markets as non-Russian fuel.
