Lord Wood of Anfield, the Minister for Europe, said: "We are targeting both the revenues that help sustain Russia's aggression and perpetrators of horrendous crimes against Ukrainian civilians, including children. The UK will not flinch in our support for Ukraine."

The FCDO said the 23 individuals and entities face asset freezes, travel bans, trust services sanctions and director disqualification, and that the eight ships face shipping and trade sanctions. The release said: "While the UK does not seek confrontation with Russia, until Putin chooses to end his senseless and barbaric war, the UK's support for Ukraine will remain unshakeable."

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published the designations in a sanctions notice dated 1 October. A second notice on 2 October revoked and reissued the listings for two ships under new identifiers and corrected the entries for Kambolov and Artur Orlov.

Ships and Novatek's Singapore arm

The FCDO described the eight ships as "three shadow fleet vessels, two vessels providing them with bunkering services and three Russian-owned ice-class vessels". The 1 October notice names them as CHAIVO (IMO 9331048), PORTOVYY (IMO 9246621), ALEKSEY KOSYGIN (IMO 9904546), KONSTANTIN POSIET (IMO 9904704), PYOTR STOLYPIN (IMO 9904675), AVACHA (IMO 9319404), the Sri Lanka-flagged GALLE ENERGY (IMO 9344411) and the Turkish-flagged general cargo ship BEBEK-E (IMO 7808401), built in 1979.

Aleksey Kosygin, Konstantin Posiet and Pyotr Stolypin are Arc7 ice-class LNG carriers built at the Zvezda shipyard in Russia's Far East for Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 project, each with a capacity of 172,600 cubic metres, according to gCaptain. Aleksey Kosygin entered service in December 2025 and Konstantin Posiet was named on 18 June 2026. gCaptain reported that Pyotr Stolypin was still under construction, and the UK notice lists it as "likely to be involved" in carrying Russian LNG rather than as having done so. The notice records Gazprom as operator of PORTOVYY and Novatek or its SPG Shipping units as operators of the three Arc7 carriers.

Novatek Gas and Power Asia Pte Ltd, the Singapore-registered trading arm of Novatek, was listed for carrying on business in "the Russian energy sector". It is the only company in the package.

The 1 October notice gave the same reason for GALLE ENERGY and BEBEK-E as for the tankers: carrying LNG "from a place in Russia to a third country". The 2 October notice revoked both listings and reissued them under new identifiers with the general ground that each ship is, has been or is likely to be involved in activity to "obtain a benefit from or support the Government of Russia". The change matches the FCDO's description of two of the ships as bunkering vessels.

The FCDO said "existing licensing arrangements have been extended to cover LNG, on a targeted and time-limited basis, to support the Republic of Korea's and Japan's energy security." The release did not name the projects covered. The government said it has sanctioned nearly 600 tankers and that international sanctions have "deprived Russia of nearly $500 billion in funding for its war effort". It also cited the interception of the shadow fleet tanker SMYRTOS.

Detention and torture in occupied Ukraine

Eight men were designated for "arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian civilians in the temporarily occupied territories". Viktor Bedrik is listed as military commandant of the Russian-occupied part of Kherson region, accused of directing detention and torture through the commandant's office. Aleksandr Chichkan served in the same office and is accused of the unlawful detention, interrogation and mistreatment of a Ukrainian civilian.

Viktor Chudak, head of the occupation police in Kamianka-Dniprovska in Zaporizhzhia region, and Alexander Fomin, a Ukrainian national who ran the town's detention facility, were listed for the "unlawful detention and mistreatment of civilians in Kamianka-Dniprovska". Nikolay Dereza, also Ukrainian, is listed as an officer in the occupation detention system in Tokmak, accused of detention, forced labour and mistreatment.

Yan Zanevsky is listed as an officer of the Federal Security Service (FSB). Nurlan Abulkhaev is chief of staff and deputy commander of the 2nd Motor Rifle Battalion of Russia's 4th Guards Military Base. Viktor Aivazov is a police warrant officer who heads a guard and convoy battalion.

Movement of the First and child deportations

Seven people were designated for "engaging in, promoting, and providing support for the Government of Russia's programme for the forced deportation and re-education of Ukrainian children". Artur Orlov is listed in the corrected 2 October entry as chairman of the board of Movement of the First, the state youth movement created by Vladimir Putin in 2022. Five regional chiefs of the movement in occupied Ukraine were listed with him: Denis Chernobay in Donetsk, Ruyal Aliyev in Luhansk, Aleksey Lavrentyev in Kherson, Viktoriya Kostromina in Zaporizhzhia and Ekaterina Kozyr in Crimea.

Elena Milskaya, chair of the board of trustees of the National Centre for Assistance to Missing and Injured Children, was listed on the same grounds. The FCDO said "an estimated 6,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly relocated to a network of heinous so-called 're-education' camps."

Georgia and South Ossetia

Four Georgian nationals were listed for joining a "delegation of Georgian politicians who met with the head of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic". Mamuka Pipia, international secretary of the Solidarity for Peace party, led the group with Giorgi Iremadze of the party's political council. Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, who founded the Russian-language channel Sezoni TV, and Paata Abuladze, a political and military commentator, also travelled. EADaily reported that Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of occupied Donetsk, received the four on 5 September 2025 and that they called for the "speedy liberation of the entire territory of the DPR". Pushilin said: "We are focused on mutually beneficial cooperation in a number of areas, since there are plenty of points of contact."

The FCDO grouped the Georgians with three other people under "pro-Kremlin disinformation" and said Russia "spends around £1.3 billion each year on manipulating information". The other three are listed for official roles. Alan Gagloev is described as an adviser to Putin and as de facto president of South Ossetia from 2022 to 2026. Sergey Tolmachev is a former Russian-installed "deputy governor" of occupied Zaporizhzhia.

Marat Kambolov was listed on 1 October for his work at the Kurchatov Institute, the state nuclear research centre, from 2015 to 2025. The 2 October correction added his positions as de facto president and prime minister of South Ossetia. Georgia Today reported that Gagloev nominated Kambolov, a Russian citizen, as prime minister on 8 June 2026, a week before the de facto parliament approved him, and that Kambolov took over as acting leader when Gagloev resigned on 24 June. A May 2026 agreement between Moscow and Tskhinvali allowed Russian citizens to hold office in the region. Meduza reported that the region's election commission declared Kambolov the winner of the 19 September election with 85.12 per cent, and that Putin told him: "Such a convincing election victory has confirmed the high degree of trust South Ossetian citizens place in you."

The drone figures

Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for Ukraine's Air Force, said on 29 September that Russia had launched 3,177 jet-powered drones in September, against 2,850 in August, according to 112 Ukraine and United24. "The number of drones this month already exceeds the total from the previous one," he said. The September figure was given before the month ended. The Kyiv Post reported in early September that jet-drone launches had risen eightfold over the summer, from about 350 in June.

The FCDO also said Russian drone and missile strikes in the week before the announcement killed at least 44 civilians and injured 315.