Zelensky sanctions 127 servicemen, 29 vessels

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees on May 23 enacting National Security and Defense Council sanctions against 127 Russian servicemen and 29 vessels, according to the Ukrainian presidency. The measures target what Kyiv said were occupiers responsible for missile strikes on Ukrainian territory and ships used in Russia’s military maritime logistics. The move added a new Ukrainian sanctions package as Kyiv presses allies to tighten enforcement against Russia more than four years into the war. It also came as Ukrainian officials publicly warned that sanctions evasion routes through third countries remain active and as questions grow over how unified Western sanctions policy remains. ### Who did Zelensky sanction on May 23? The Ukrainian presidency said on May 23 that Zelenskyy signed decrees putting sanctions on 127 servicemen involved in missile strikes on Ukraine and on 29 vessels that form part of Russia’s “shadow military logistics fleet.” The presidential statement did not frame the package as symbolic; it tied the listings directly to attacks on Ukrainian territory and to maritime support for Russia’s war effort. (president.gov.ua) Ukrainska Pravda reported the same day that the sanctions covered 127 Russian servicemen and 29 vessels over attacks on Ukraine. The report matched the broad outline published by Zelenskyy’s office. ### Why is Kyiv talking about Central Asia and the Caucasus? Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions policy, said a sharp increase in exports of certain goods from the European Union to Central Asia and the Caucasus points to systematic re-export to Russia, according to Ukrinform. (president.gov.ua) He said Ukraine was urging the EU to make more active use of mechanisms to counter sanctions circumvention. The European Commission said in April that the EU’s 20th sanctions package included, for the first time, an anti-circumvention tool, according to Ukrinform’s report on the package. That gives Kyiv a specific enforcement mechanism to point to as it argues that trade flows through third countries need closer scrutiny. (ukrinform.net) ### How broad is the sanctions system Ukraine is trying to defend? The House of Commons Library said the G7, EU and other allies imposed an “unprecedented package of coordinated sanctions” on Russia after the February 2022 invasion. In a separate April 2026 briefing, the library said concerns had grown that sanctions coordination could unravel as U.S. policy under President Donald Trump diverged from allies on some measures. (ukrinform.net) The same April briefing said the United States had not joined allies in imposing new wide-ranging sanctions during Trump’s second term, apart from some oil-related measures, and noted Washington’s refusal in July 2025 to back a lower oil price cap. Those details have fed debate in Europe over whether sanctions pressure can be maintained at the same level. ### Where does Belarusian potash fit into this fight? (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) A report carried by Pravda EU on May 22 said the United States had formally asked Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash after Washington removed sanctions on Belaruskali. Reuters could not independently verify that report from official U.S., Lithuanian, Polish or Ukrainian statements in the material reviewed here. (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) Belarus matters to the sanctions debate because trade restrictions on Minsk have overlapped with the wider effort to constrain Russia’s war economy. Any move by Washington or European governments to ease potash-related restrictions would add another test for allied coordination at a time when Kyiv is asking Brussels to tighten anti-evasion enforcement. That is an inference from the timing and subject of the measures, based on the sanctions briefings and Ukrainian statements. (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) ### What comes next in Europe’s sanctions push? The Council of the European Union extended its economic sanctions on Russia until July 31, 2026, according to Ukrinform’s December report. Ukraine is now pressing EU institutions and member states to use anti-circumvention tools more actively, with Vlasiuk publicly pointing to re-export routes through Central Asia and the Caucasus. (ukrinform.net) Brussels’ next decisions on enforcement, and any public response from Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine or the United States on Belarusian potash, are likely to provide the next concrete test of how aligned the sanctions coalition remains. (ukrinform.net 1) (ukrinform.net 2)