Last year we published a number of articles concerning the machinations of the Russian Shadow Fleet, an in particular, the involvement of Eyyub and Garayev's 2Rivers network. There was clearly a lot of interest in this network, and finally it appears that solid action is being taken.

On 24 February, the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UK announced a landmark sanctions package intended to cut off Russian oil revenues and thereby degrade the Kremlin's ability to wage its illegal war. What stood out was that the Eyyub / Garayev network was the largest target of these sanctions, and many of the companies we highlighted in our articles last year are now sanctioned.

One section of the package is specifically entitled "Entities associated with Tahir GARAYEV, who is or has been involved in owning or controlling, directly or indirectly, or working as a director of Coral Energy Group (now 2Rivers Group)". The subsequent list has 175 companies listed, mopst of which were in our previous reporting!

A significant part of the companies that have been sanctioned, were ones we had identified as probably being part of the network, but for which we could not find definitive proof. It seems that the UK authorities must have additional information to confirm the connection.

A common tactic used by the Shadow Fleets, is to shift assets around between entities, or unsanctioned sister companies. By targeting 175 companies within the 2Rivers group simultaneously, the UK is probably trying to inhibit this sort of shell-game.

Key Take-Aways

• The UK has sanctioned 175 companies tied to the 2Rivers network, most of which we flagged last year.
• targeting the entire corporate web disrupts the Shadow Fleet's 'shell-game'.
• Our earlier investigative work suggested the hidden links that authorities now possess.
• Coordinated, ecosystem-wide sanctions are proving more effective than peicemeal measures.

This decisive crackdown shines a light on the shadowy 2Rivers web that we exposed last year. Hopefully this will show that this kin of shell-game can be busted when intelligence meets political will. Choking off financial lines that fuel Russia's illegal war, these sanctions not only validate our earlier reporting, but send a message that depite opaque, offshore maneuvering, the Shadow Fleet is on the authorities radar.