On May 28, Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Jim Himes visited the Kyiv School of Economics, where they discussed with experts from the KSE Institute Sanctions Hub of Excellence ways to strengthen sanctions pressure on Russia and limit its financial capacity to continue the war.

The meeting also included national security advisers to Senator Blumenthal and Representative Himes — Nate Guajardo and Troy Neinberg — as well as representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine and Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Sanctions Policy.

“We value the support the United States provides to Ukraine and are grateful for this partnership. Russia’s war against Ukraine will end one day — but it takes consistent efforts from everyone to make that happen. Thank you to the U.S. Congressional delegation — Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Jim Himes — for this visit to KSE, for your engagement, and for the concrete steps you are taking toward that goal,” said Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics.

During the briefing, KSE Institute experts presented an assessment of the Russian economy, which continues to stagnate despite higher oil revenues driven by the war in Iran. They also discussed how Russia’s shadow fleet is adapting as Moscow continues to rely on it to sell oil and circumvent sanctions, and presented research assessing the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions on vessels.

Participants also focused on Russia’s growing use of its own flag for shadow fleet tankers amid mounting sanctions and diplomatic pressure, as well as the impact of U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil on Russian oil revenues and production. The discussion also highlighted the need for closer coordination among the United States, the EU, and other members of the sanctions coalition, particularly in aligning shadow fleet tanker lists and sanctions designations.

The KSE team included Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of KSE; Nataliia Shapoval, President of KSE Institute; Elina Ribakova, Director of the International Affairs Program and Vice President for Foreign Policy at KSE; Yuliia Pavytska, Head of the Sanctions Hub of Excellence; Borys Dodonov, Head of the Center for Energy and Climate Studies; Anatoly Kravtsev, Research Lead on the Russian Shadow Fleet; Pavlo Shkurenko, Research Lead on the Russian Military Industry; Olena Bilousova, Co-Lead of Defense Research; and Dmytro Pokryshka, Sanctions Policy Researcher.

The Kyiv School of Economics is grateful to the delegation for visiting Kyiv and for its continued support of Ukraine.