The information is confirmed: on September 18, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. The document targets Russia’s energy and defense sectors, banks, officials, and the so-called shadow fleet that helps the Kremlin bypass restrictions and sell oil. The law also strengthens sanctions against Iran.
The main blow is not directed solely at Russia. The U.S. President now has the authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. In other words, those who have spent years claiming ‘neutrality’ while simultaneously financing Russian missiles are being asked to finally make a choice: either cheap barrels from Moscow or normal trade with the United States. The law was supported by both chambers of Congress: 86 to 11 in the Senate and 262 to 159 in the House of Representatives.
This is fundamentally important. Because the Russian war is not financed by Peskov’s loud statements, Medvedev’s hysterics, or even Putin’s fairy tales about ‘historic lands.’ It is financed by oil, gas, banks, tankers, and buyers who pretend that money doesn’t have a smell.
It does smell. It smells of Ukrainian blood.
Now the space for the Kremlin’s usual games is narrowing: selling oil through intermediaries, renaming tankers, changing flags, and then solemnly declaring that the sanctions ‘only strengthened the Russian economy.’ The Russian economy is so ‘strengthened’ that its shadow fleet is hiding under foreign flags, banks are searching for roundabout routes, and oil has to be sold at a discount. A little more of this strengthening, and the ruble could be used as wallpaper. Though the glue would be more expensive.
However, one should not fall into euphoria. The signed law is a powerful tool, not a magic button. Its real strength will depend on the speed of implementation, the list of sanctioned entities, the control over bypassing restrictions, and Washington’s willingness to apply secondary tariffs against Russia’s major trading partners.
Sanctions work not when they are used to make beautiful threats, but when a tanker cannot insure its cargo, a bank cannot process a payment, a factory cannot acquire components, and a buyer of Russian oil starts counting how much they will lose in the American market.
This is not the finale yet. It is another heavy nail in the coffin of the Russian imperial structure. And many such nails are needed: sanctions, weapons, technological blockades, strikes on military logistics, the destruction of oil revenues, and accountability for war crimes.
The main thing is not to lose spirit and faith. The enemy is strong and does not fight alone: they are backed by Iranian technology, North Korean ammunition, foreign markets, and sanction-evasion networks. But Ukraine is not alone either. We are fighting for our land, our children, and the right to live without a Muscovite boot over our heads.
We thank the United States, Congress, President Trump, and all friends of Ukraine for this correct decision.
Moscow will say again that it does not care about sanctions. We will believe them as soon as their propagandists stop trying to prove around the clock how indifferent they are.
With God and only forward!
Author: Ivan Arefiev
Photo collage: Andriy Atlantov
Photo: Пекельний молот
