The 20th sanctions package against Russia, adopted by the European Union, is one of the most extensive tools of economic pressure since the start of the full-scale invasion. The new restrictions target Russia’s shadow fleet, tighten controls on critical technologies, and expand measures to counter sanctions evasion through third countries.
Despite the systematic nature of Brussels’ decisions, questions about the effectiveness of the sanctions regime — amid the prolonged adaptation of Russia’s military-industrial complex — have become the subject of heated expert debate in Ukraine. This was discussed during the roundtable “Closing the gaps in sanctions: how to weaken Russia’s military-industrial complex, energy sector, and shadow fleet,” as reported by Polskie Radio.
Identifying Russian assets remains difficult due to limited transparency and constantly changing corporate registrations, said senior researcher at the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission Victoriia Vyshnivska. “Rostec alone consists of at least 492 companies that we can identify using open sources. Ukraine has sanctioned 70% of them, the United States 45%, and the European Union only 22%, which shows the need for further synchronization of sanctions lists.”
In sanctions policy against Russia, the position of Washington plays a particularly important role, where sanctions bodies operate with their own internal momentum, often independently of the current political dynamics in Congress, Vyshnivska notes. “It would take about 10 years to sanction every Russian entity if we proceed one by one in a steady, systematic way. Despite the lack of strong engagement from the US on Ukraine-related issues, the main sanctions-listing body continues to update its lists, with more than 250 companies added in September 2025.”