The European Union adopted fresh sanctions against Russian oil interests on Monday, targeting traders Murtaza Lakhani and Etibar Eyyub for helping Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions on crude exports that help to fund Russia's war in Ukraine.

The EU has imposed sanctions on the high-profile oil trader Murtaza Lakhani for allegedly assisting Russia’s Rosneft in exporting crude and others petroleum products in breach of western restrictions. Lakhani is the best known trader to have been targeted by Brussels since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Experts say that Russian and Chinese support for Venezuela has largely dried up, with no prospect of real military or financial aid.

Oil revenue is a key part of Russia's economy, allowing President Vladimir Putin to pour money into the war effort against Ukraine without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.

The Bank of Russia filed a lawsuit in Moscow seeking 18.2 trillion rubles ($229 billion) from Euroclear, the state-run Tass news service reported Monday.

Russia is pushing to take over all of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, where one resident tells NPR that she feels her "life depends on how our guys at the front hold on."

At least three oil tankers have been hit by explosions in what appears to be a stepped up unilateral effort by Ukraine to sink Russia's sanctions-dodging oil sales.

After almost four years of Russia's full-scale war, Kyiv is running out of cash, and needs an estimated €135.7bn over the next two years.

The Kremlin has described Ukraine’s push to join NATO as one of the “root causes” of the conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump has ruled out Ukrainian membership in the Western defensive alliance. Zelensky is searching for compromises that could secure a peace deal to end Russia’s ongoing invasion.