The U.S. Department of State announced on Friday that the United States has imposed its "most severe" sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sectors, which "will cost it billions of dollars monthly," according to an American official.

The State Department added that the sanctions will target 8 individuals and entities in Russia related to the production and export of oil and gas. The aim is to deprive Russia of oil and gas revenues to undermine its ability to finance its war against Ukraine.

Reuters reported that the United States has imposed sanctions on more than 180 oil tankers, many of which are part of Russia's so-called "shadow fleet," believed to consist of old and unsafe tankers used to secretly transport oil and goods to circumvent Western sanctions on Moscow.

In this context, an American official stated that Russia "will do everything it can to circumvent the sanctions, but doing so will increase its costs," predicting that the new sanctions on Russia will cost it billions of dollars monthly.

Since February 24, 2022, Russia has been conducting a military offensive against its neighbor Ukraine, which it conditions ending on Kyiv's renunciation of joining Western military alliances—a condition Ukraine considers an interference in its affairs.