May 9 (UPI) — Britain hit Russia’s shadow fleet Friday with what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the largest ever sanction package.

Up to 100 oil tankers that carried more than $24 billion in cargo since the beginning of 2024 were targeted by the sanctions.

“Every step we take to increase pressure on Russia and achieve a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine is another step towards security and prosperity in the U.K.,” Starmer said in a statement.

Starmer said the sanctions targeting the fleet Russia used to transport oil will add more pressure to Russia’s economy.

He said, thanks to Western sanctions, oil and gas revenues for Russia have fallen each year since 2022.

“Sanctions and the cost of his barbaric war are causing the Russian economy to stall — with the wealth fund hollowed out, inflation rising and government spend on defense and security spiraling,” Starmer said.

Starmer said Britain will do all it can to disrupt the Russian shadow fleet and the people behind it, because it’s a security threat for Britain.

“The threat from Russia to our national security cannot be underestimated, that is why we will do everything in our power to destroy his shadow fleet operation, starve his war machine of oil revenues and protect the subsea infrastructure that we rely on for our everyday lives,” Starmer’s said.

Russia’s shadow fleet, Starmer said, isn’t just bringing in money for Russia. It’s being used to damage critical national infrastructure “through reckless seafaring in Europe.”

The sanctioned shadow fleet vessels will be banned from British ports and could be seized if they enter British waters.