The European Commission has proposed its 21st package of sanctions on Russia which also includes Indian entities. The sanctions need to be approved by member states before they are finalised.

The proposed package focuses on energy, crypto and financial services and trade, including fisheries, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said. The sanctions would also ban the entry of former Russian combatants into the EU.

“Brick by brick, we are collapsing the foundations of Russia’s war economy,” the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on social media site X.

Also Read | Three Indian firms among 45 entities sanctioned by EU for links with Russia

“The new listings will cover more than 30 designations in the drones manufacturing as well as new export control measures on 50 companies, including entities based in China, Türkiye, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, UAE and India,” Ms. Kallas wrote.

This is not the first time Indian entities have found themselves on a EU sanctions list. However, the news comes as Brussels and New Delhi are in the implementation phase of a trade agreement that was announced in February.

The sanctions add 30 vessels to the existing 632 sanctioned ships in the so called “shadow fleet” of Russia — vessels transporting Russian oil and petroleum products and circumventing Western sanctions. The package also expands sanctions to cover 31 more Russian banks, 20 banks, crypto-related entities and oil traders in third countries. It also introduces an export ban on equipment used to support drones and metals and alloys used in defence and aerospace.

The European Commission has proposed its 21st package of sanctions on Russia which also includes Indian entities. The sanctions need to be approved by member states before they are finalised.

The proposed package focuses on energy, crypto and financial services and trade, including fisheries, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said. The sanctions would also ban the entry of former Russian combatants into the EU.

“Brick by brick, we are collapsing the foundations of Russia’s war economy,” the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on social media site X.

Also Read | Three Indian firms among 45 entities sanctioned by EU for links with Russia

“The new listings will cover more than 30 designations in the drones manufacturing as well as new export control measures on 50 companies, including entities based in China, Türkiye, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, UAE and India,” Ms. Kallas wrote.

This is not the first time Indian entities have found themselves on a EU sanctions list. However, the news comes as Brussels and New Delhi are in the implementation phase of a trade agreement that was announced in February.

The sanctions add 30 vessels to the existing 632 sanctioned ships in the so called “shadow fleet” of Russia — vessels transporting Russian oil and petroleum products and circumventing Western sanctions. The package also expands sanctions to cover 31 more Russian banks, 20 banks, crypto-related entities and oil traders in third countries. It also introduces an export ban on equipment used to support drones and metals and alloys used in defence and aerospace.

The European Union (EU) on Thursday (October 23, 2025) heaped more economic sanctions on Russia, adding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s new punitive measures the previous day against the Russian oil industry.

It is a broadened effort to choke off the revenue that funds Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and to force President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war.

The steps are a triumph for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has long campaigned for the international community to punish Russia more comprehensively for attacking his country.

Ukraine and E.U. leaders accuse Putin of stalling and reject land concessions for peace

“We waited for this. God bless, it will work. And this is very important,” the Ukrainian leader said in Brussels, where EU countries attending a summit announced the latest round of Russia sanctions.

Despite U.S.-led peace efforts in recent months, the war shows no sign of ending after more than three years of fighting, and European leaders are increasingly concerned about the threat from Russia.

Ukrainian forces have largely held Russia’s bigger Army at bay in a slow and ruinous war of attrition along a roughly 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) front line that snakes along eastern and southern Ukraine. Almost daily Russian long-range strikes have taken aim at Ukraine’s power grid ahead of the bitter winter, while Ukrainian forces have targeted Russian oil refineries and manufacturing plants.

Ukraine resists EU conditions on loan backed by frozen Russian assets

Energy revenue is the linchpin of Russia’s economy, allowing Mr. Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.

The EU measures target Russian oil and gas, the Russian shadow fleet of hundreds of aging tankers that are dodging sanctions, and Russia’s financial sector. Also, a new system for limiting the movement of Russian diplomats within the 27-nation EU will be introduced.

Mr. Zelenskyy urged more nations to punish Russia. “This is a good signal to other countries in the world to join the sanctions,” he told reporters in Brussels. Senior officials in Europe and the United States have debated for months over how best to crank up pressure on the Kremlin.

Russia says it takes two more Ukrainian villages, struck energy targets overnight

The new EU measures took almost a month to decide. The 27-nation bloc has already slapped 18 packages of sanctions against Russia over the war, but getting final agreement on whom and what to target can take weeks. Moscow has also proved adept at sidestepping sanctions.

The U.S. sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil came after Mr. Trump said his plan for a swift meeting with Mr. Putin was on hold because he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time,” in the latest twist in Trump’s hot-and-cold efforts to end the war as Mr. Putin refuses to budge from his demands.

In what appeared to be a public reminder of Russian atomic arsenals, Mr. Putin on Wednesday (October 23, 2025) directed drills of the country’s strategic nuclear forces.