Ukrainian campaign group Razom We Stand today released new findings on how the United Kingdom’s recent restrictions on maritime services for Russian LNG still leave major Kremlin-backed export projects largely untouched through exemptions granted to Yamal LNG and Sakhalin-2 gas projects, until January 2027.
Despite finally introducing a decisive ban on May 20, 2026, on maritime services supporting Russian LNG exports, the UK government issued subsequent exemptions on Yamal LNG and Sakhalin-2, allowing British insurers, ship managers, and maritime service providers to facilitate exports from Russia’s two most strategically important LNG projects for the next 7 months.
Together, Yamal LNG and Sakhalin-2 remain major sources of fossil fuel revenues funding Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Svitlana Romanko, Founder and Executive Director of Ukrainian group Razom We Stand, said:
“Russia’s fossil fuel revenues are the main funding source for its brutal war against Ukraine. Every company and nation that keeps this trade moving is making a conscious choice to help contribute to the brutality that Russia delivers to Ukrainian people every day.”
“Every month the UK allows its companies to provide services for Russian LNG exports – it further strengthens the Russian fossil fuel economy and helps actively contribute to the worst war crimes possible. The UK must act now to concretely and quickly end all collaboration with Russia’s energy economy.”
Russia’s fossil fuel exports have generated more than $800 million per day since March 2026, boosted further by higher global energy prices linked to the Iran war. Sakhalin-2 and Yamal LNG continue to provide billions in revenue to the Russian state budget and Kremlin-linked energy companies.
Highlighted is how Yamal LNG remains tightly connected to European energy markets through long-term contracts and LNG infrastructure in France, Belgium and Spain, while Sakhalin-2 continues exporting LNG and oil from Russia’s Pacific coast to Asian markets with the support of Western maritime services.
Key highlights:
- The UK’s LNG maritime “ban” is largely symbolic: London announced a prohibition on services for Russian LNG, then immediately issued broad licences that shield Yamal LNG and Sakhalin‑2 until 1 January 2027, while long‑standing Sakhalin‑2 price‑cap exemptions run through June 2026.
- Since the UK flagged its planned maritime ban, UK insurers and managers have serviced over 10 million tonnes of Russian LNG from Yamal LNG and Sakhalin‑2, enabling more than £4 billion in revenue for Moscow’s key LNG exporters in just six months.
- UK firms, like Seapeak Maritime Glasgow Ltd and Northstandard P&I Club, underpin the backbone of Russia’s Arctic LNG logistics. Yamal LNG’s eleven critical Arc7 icebreaking LNG carriers rely on UK insurance and/or ship management, ensuring year‑round exports despite sanctions rhetoric.
- The same carve‑outs extend to Russia’s Pacific LNG lifeline: as of spring 2026, half of the Sakhalin‑2 LNG fleet is insured by UK P&I clubs, with two vessels only recently being taken over by UK The West of England Shipowners from Norwegian P&I Insurers in April 2026.
- Despite four years of full-scale war and mounting evidence of Russian war crimes, bespoke US, EU and UK exemptions for Sakhalin 2 continue to treat the project as “exempt,” allowing royalty gas and tax payments to feed Russia’s Far Eastern industrial and military base.
- Ending Sakhalin 2’s special status — by closing UK and Western maritime channels, fixing a hard end date for all exemptions and aligning G7 sanctions with Ukraine’s measures — is now a critical test of whether the coalition is serious about cutting off Russian war financing.
Razom We Stand calls on the UK government to immediately end all exemptions for Russian LNG projects, prohibit maritime services supporting Russian fossil fuel exports, strengthen sanctions enforcement, and rapidly accelerate the transition away from fossil gas.
Full report here.
