Russia Niche sanctions identified that would hinder war machine

A US group has identified several obscure but potentially key sanctions it says could seriously disrupt Russia’s war effort in Ukraine after last month’s targeting of the Kremlin’s biggest oil firms.

- Aisha Down

Previous rounds of sanctions have been applied to Russian energy companies, banks, military suppliers and the “shadow fleet” of ships carrying Russian oil.

Dekleptocracy, a civil society group that researches Russia’s war economy, says chemicals used to make mechanical lubricants and military-grade tyres are a vulnerability that US, UK and EU policymakers could exploit.

Kristofer Harrison, the group’s president and a former US Department of State expert on Russia, described the targets as “weedy and specific”, unlike the microchips and oil companies that generally draw the attention of governments and agencies. But they are hard to replace and essential to Moscow’s ability to field tanks and fight, Dekleptocracy said.

“A lubricant shortage would seriously damage Russia’s war machine,” it wrote in its latest report.

Only a handful of companies worldwide make chemical additives for mechanical lubricants - motor oil for tanks and cars. Almost all of them stopped selling the chemicals to Russia at the start of its full-scale invasion, leading to widespread shortages and complaints from motorists.