The less money Moscow pulled from oil sales, the sooner peace could be restored.
In the waning days of his presidency, Joe Biden authorized the most expansive sanctions yet leveled at Russia's energy sector, with the United Kingdom joining in kind — a coordinated effort to drain the financial lifeblood sustaining Moscow's war in Ukraine. More than 180 vessels and two of Russia's largest oil firms were designated as targets, a move Kyiv's president called a significant blow to Russian war financing. The measures were crafted not only as punishment, but as inheritance — a strengthened negotiating position left for the incoming Trump administration to wield or set aside.
- With days left in his presidency, Biden signed the broadest energy sanctions the US had ever imposed on Russia, joined immediately by the UK — a final, forceful act of economic warfare.
- Over 180 ships and oil giants Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas were designated, with officials projecting losses of billions of dollars monthly for Moscow — if enforcement holds.
- Zelenskyy framed the sanctions as a direct path to peace, while Russia dismissed them as baseless and an insurance firm warned of environmental risk, signaling the battle over implementation has already begun.
- On the ground, the war ground on: Ukrainian drone and missile strikes hit a Russian ammunition depot in Rostov, while Russian forces struck civilian areas in Donetsk, killing and wounding residents on both sides of the front.
- Inside Ukraine, police raided smuggling networks helping military-aged men flee conscription, and in Slovakia, 15,000 protesters took to Bratislava's streets to push back against their prime minister's overtures toward Putin.
On a Friday in early January, with fewer than two weeks left in his presidency, Joe Biden signed off on the broadest sanctions package the United States had yet directed at Russia's energy sector. The Treasury Department moved against more than 180 vessels and designated two of Russia's largest oil companies — Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas — as targets of American financial pressure. The United Kingdom followed the same day with parallel measures. The goal was explicit: cut the revenues funding Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a significant blow and stated the logic plainly — less oil money for Moscow means a sooner end to the war. A senior US official suggested the measures could cost Russia billions each month, if enforced rigorously. The timing carried strategic intent: these sanctions were designed to hand the incoming Trump administration a stronger position in any future negotiations over Ukraine's fate. Biden and Zelenskyy spoke by phone that day, covering the sanctions, air defense support, and the importance of sustaining international backing for Kyiv.
Gazprom Neft called the measures baseless and illegitimate. An insurance firm warned of heightened environmental risk. But Washington and London had made their message clear: the financial architecture behind Russia's military campaign was now a direct target.
Meanwhile, the war continued. Ukrainian forces struck a Russian ammunition depot and drone storage facility in the Rostov region using a coordinated drone-and-missile operation. Russian officials acknowledged a fire at an industrial site but said little more. In Russian-controlled Donetsk, officials accused Ukraine of hitting a supermarket with Himars missiles during morning rush hour, reporting casualties. Ukraine said it had struck military targets in the region and taken steps to limit civilian harm. Reports of an apartment building strike in Svitlodarsk added to the day's toll.
Back in Kyiv, police announced the results of roughly 600 raids targeting networks smuggling military-aged men out of the country to avoid conscription — part of Ukraine's ongoing struggle to sustain its fighting force. And in Bratislava, an estimated 15,000 Slovaks marched in protest of their prime minister's recent meeting with Putin, waving EU flags and declaring their country's place in Europe rather than Moscow's orbit.
The day's events — sanctions, strikes, protests, and arrests — all pointed toward the same underlying question: whether financial pressure, applied with enough discipline, could do what battlefield force alone had not.
On a Friday in early January, with less than two weeks remaining in his presidency, Joe Biden signed off on the broadest sanctions package the United States had yet leveled at Russia's energy sector. The Treasury Department moved to freeze more than 180 vessels and designate two of Russia's largest oil companies—Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas—as targets of American financial pressure. The United Kingdom followed suit the same day, announcing its own sanctions against the same firms. The stated aim was direct: to hemorrhage Moscow's war chest by cutting off the revenues that had been funding its invasion of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, seized on the moment. In a post on social media, he called the sanctions a "significant blow" to Russian finances and articulated the logic behind them with stark simplicity: the less money Moscow pulled from oil sales, the sooner peace could be restored. A senior U.S. official suggested the measures could cost Russia billions of dollars each month, provided they were enforced with rigor. The timing was deliberate—these sanctions were being positioned as leverage for the incoming Trump administration, a way to strengthen Kyiv's hand in any future negotiations over ending the war.
Gazprom Neft responded with defiance, calling the sanctions "baseless" and "illegitimate," according to Russian state media. An insurance company, Ingosstrakh, warned that the restrictions would increase the risk of environmental disasters. But the broader message from Washington and London was unmistakable: the financial architecture supporting Russia's military campaign was now a direct target. Biden and Zelenskyy spoke by phone that same Friday, discussing the new sanctions, ongoing American support for Ukrainian air defenses, and the importance of maintaining international backing for Kyiv's defense.
On the ground, the war continued with its familiar brutality. Ukrainian forces conducted a drone and missile strike on a Russian ammunition depot and drone storage facility in the Rostov region, near the village of Chaltyr, in the early hours of Friday. According to a source in Ukraine's security service, the operation was coordinated with the navy, and the drones had been used to overwhelm Russian air defenses, creating an opening for the missiles to reach their target. Russian officials acknowledged that an industrial facility in the area had caught fire but offered no details about what had been hit.
The same day, Russian officials accused Ukrainian forces of striking a supermarket in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk with American-supplied Himars missiles during morning rush hour. Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed administrator of occupied Donetsk, said four people had been injured, though Russian investigators initially reported two killed and two wounded. Ukraine's military command did not directly address the supermarket claim but said it had conducted strikes in the Donetsk region and had taken measures to minimize civilian casualties. Pushilin also reported that Ukrainian artillery had hit an apartment building in Svitlodarsk farther north, killing two people and wounding eight. Ukraine countered that its forces had struck a Russian command post in the same location.
Back in Kyiv, police announced they had identified dozens of suspects involved in smuggling military-aged men out of the country to avoid conscription. After conducting roughly 600 raids across the nation, law enforcement said it had delivered 45 notices of suspicion to organizers and participants in these smuggling networks. The crackdown was part of a larger mobilization effort that had been underway for months as Ukraine struggled to replenish its military forces. Meanwhile, in Slovakia, thousands of people took to the streets of Bratislava to protest their prime minister's recent meeting with Vladimir Putin. Waving EU flags and holding signs declaring "Slovakia is Europe, we are not Russia," the crowd—organizers estimated at 15,000—chanted against what they saw as a drift toward Moscow in the midst of a gas dispute between Ukraine and Slovakia.
The sanctions, the military strikes, the diplomatic pressure, and the internal struggles all pointed toward the same underlying reality: the war was entering a new phase, one in which financial strangulation of Russia's economy was being weaponized alongside military force, and the question of what came next hung over everything. Enforcement would be critical. Without it, the billions in projected losses would remain theoretical.
Notable Quotes
The less revenue Russia earns from oil, the sooner peace will be restored.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian president
The sanctions are baseless and illegitimate.— Gazprom Neft, Russian oil company (via state media)
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Biden move on these sanctions now, just before leaving office? Why not wait for Trump?
Because the window was closing. Biden wanted to lock in pressure on Russia's energy revenues before his administration ended. It's a way of constraining what Trump can undo or negotiate away—if the sanctions are already in place and enforced, they become harder to reverse.
And Zelenskyy's framing—that less oil money means sooner peace—that's interesting. Isn't he saying sanctions could force Russia to negotiate?
Exactly. He's reframing the sanctions not as punishment but as a path to the negotiating table. If Russia's bleeding money, the logic goes, Putin has more incentive to end the war. It's leverage dressed up as inevitability.
But Russia says the sanctions are illegitimate. Does that matter?
Not legally. Russia has no real recourse. What matters is whether the sanctions actually work—whether banks and shipping companies actually comply, whether the financial pressure is real. Gazprom Neft can call them baseless all it wants, but if no one will insure its tankers or process its payments, the designation becomes very real.
The timing with Trump's arrival—is that a gamble?
It's a bet that Trump will see the value in having leverage. If Russia's economy is already under pressure from these sanctions, Trump enters negotiations from a stronger position. But yes, there's risk. Trump could also decide the sanctions are obstacles to a deal he wants to make.
What about the civilian casualties being reported? Does that change the calculus?
It complicates the narrative. Both sides are claiming the other hit civilians. Ukraine says it's being careful; Russia says Ukraine is reckless. The truth is probably that in a war this intense, civilian harm is almost inevitable. But it doesn't seem to be shifting the focus away from the sanctions and the diplomatic endgame.