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NEW DELHI/MOSCOW: At least two vessels loaded with Russian oil bound for refiners in India have diverted to other destinations following new US sanctions, trade sources said, and LSEG trade flows showed.

The US Treasury Department this week imposed sanctions on more than 115 Iran-linked individuals, entities, and ships, some of which are involved in transporting Russian oil.

US President Donald Trump has urged countries to halt purchases of oil from Moscow, threatening 100 percent tariffs unless Russia agrees to a significant peace deal with Ukraine.

Three ships — the Aframaxes Tagor and Guanyin and the Suezmax Tassos — were scheduled to deliver Russian oil to Indian ports this month, trade sources said. All three vessels are under US sanctions.

Tagor was bound for Chennai on India’s east coast, while Guanyin and Tassos were headed to ports in western India, according to trade sources and Russian ports data.

Tighter Western sanctions aimed at cutting Russia’s oil revenue, seen as funding its war against Ukraine, have been increasingly hitting Russian oil supplies for India, which buys more than a third of its oil needs from Russia.

Tagor is now heading to Dalian in China, while Tassos is diverting to Port Said in Egypt, the data shows.

Guanyin remains on course to Sikka, a port used by Reliance Industries and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd..

Indian Oil Corp, which was to receive the Tagor shipment, and BPCL did not respond to Reuters’ emailed requests for comment.

Zulu Shipping, linked to Panama-flagged Tassos and Tagor, and Guanyin-owner Silver Tetra Marine could not be reached for comments. Both companies are under US sanctions.

A Reliance spokesperson said that “neither of these two vessels, Guanyin and Tassos, is coming to us.”

Reliance has previously purchased oil in Guanyin.

Separately, two other vessels, Achilles and Elyte, loaded with Russian oil, are preparing to discharge Russian Urals for Reliance, according to LSEG data. Both these vessels are sanctioned by Britain and the European Union. India has condemned the EU sanctions.

KYIV: Ukrainian rescuers recovered more than a dozen more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in Kyiv overnight, bringing the death toll from Russia’s worst air strike of the year on Ukraine’s capital to 31.

A two-year-old was among the five children found dead after Thursday’s sweeping Russian drone and missile attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, announcing the end of a more than 24-hour-long rescue operation.

A total of 159 people were wounded in the multi-wave strike, in which Russia launched more than 300 drones and eight missiles early on Thursday, the latest in a campaign of fierce strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities.

The worst damage was to an apartment building that partially collapsed in the Sviatoshyn district in western Kyiv. Damage was also reported in at least three other districts of the capital.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday sharply criticized Russia’s “disgusting” behavior against Ukraine, while saying he was not sure whether sanctions would deter Russia. He has given President Vladimir Putin until August 8 to make a deal or else he will respond with economic pressure.

Natalia Matviyenko, 65, sitting near the damaged apartment building, said she did not place much faith in Trump’s tough rhetoric.

“Trump just says, ‘I’m upset with President Putin’s behavior.’ And what? No results,” she said.

The US leader, who returned to power on a pledge to swiftly end the war, has in recent weeks rolled back his earlier conciliatory approach toward Moscow and signalled openness to arming Ukraine.

But a diplomatic effort to end the war has stalled, with Moscow not backing down from what Kyiv and its allies describe as maximalist demands.

’WILL PUTIN LISTEN?’
On Friday, mourners laid flowers and lit candles at the wrecked apartment block, where rumbling excavators hoisted heavy pieces of rubble. The makeshift shrine included brightly colored stuffed animals.

Oksana Kinal, 43, who was placing flowers to honor a co-worker who had been killed alongside a son, said she hoped Trump would follow up on his threat but also expressed doubt.

“I think America has a lot of points of leverage that can be used against Russia,” she said.

“But will Putin listen to this? I don’t know.”

Kyiv’s air force said on Friday that Ukrainian air defenses had destroyed more than 6,000 drones and missiles across the country in July alone.

“The world possesses every instrument required to ensure Russia is brought to justice,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X on Friday. “What is lacking is not power — but will.”