UK significantly ramps up Russia trade sanctions (May 2026): What you need to know

On 20 May 2026, the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/543) came into force, significantly expanding the UK's sanctions regime against Russia. Made by the Secretary of State under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, these Regulations amend the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and introduce a range of new trade and shipping prohibitions.

Key measures:

• Specified ships. The Regulations introduce prohibitions on providing services (including technical assistance, crew, operating, chartering, brokering and financial services) in relation to ships specified by the Secretary of State, as well as a ban on chartering or operating such ships.
• Processed oil products. It is now prohibited to import oil and oil products falling within commodity code 2710 that have been processed in a third country from Russian-origin crude oil (commodity code 2709), together with associated financial, brokering and technical assistance services.
• Uranium. New restrictions prohibit the import, acquisition, supply and delivery of uranium originating in or consigned from Russia, alongside bans on related financial, brokering and technical assistance services.
• Liquefied natural gas (LNG). The maritime transportation by ship of Russian-origin LNG, both from Russia to third countries and between third countries, is now prohibited, along with associated financial and brokering services.
• Detained transport assets. The acquisition of detained ships or aircraft from designated persons or persons connected with Russia is prohibited, and any such transaction is rendered void and ineffective as a matter of contract and property law.
• Construction services. Construction services have been added to the list of prohibited professional and business services under the 2019 Regulations.
• Expanded goods controls. Additional goods have been added to key schedules, including ancillary chemicals used in advanced chip production, quantum computing and related goods, engineering biology ancillary goods, and further defence and security items.

Transitional provisions and exceptions

Limited wind-down periods apply. For construction services, contracts concluded before 20 May 2026 may be performed until 20 August 2026, subject to notification to the Secretary of State. For restricted goods in the new categories (advanced chip chemicals, quantum computing goods, and engineering biology goods), the wind-down period extends to 20 November 2026.

For LNG maritime transportation, long-term contracts concluded before 17 June 2025 benefit from a carve-out until 1 January 2027, subject to conditions. Exceptions also exist for uranium activities necessary for the continued operation of nuclear installations in third countries.

Licensing and enforcement

New licensing regimes have been introduced for detained transport assets and ships, with associated offences for providing false information or failing to comply with licence conditions. Enforcement mechanisms under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 and the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 have been updated to reflect the new prohibitions.

Note on the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies

The new UK regulations will, in many key respects, be automatically implemented into the sanctions regimes in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, as changes to underlying UK sanctions laws are generally given effect to automatically. However, some tailoring of the new sanctions will still be needed to make the provisions fully ‘fit for purpose’ and we would expect these to be implemented through new Orders in Council (or equivalent) which are still to be issued. We are keeping track of developments and will update this blog in due course.

Next Steps

Organisations with exposure to Russian trade, energy, shipping or asset markets should review existing contracts and commercial relationships against these expanded prohibitions as a matter of priority, noting the limited transitional periods available.

The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 can be found here