British families 'unwittingly funding Russian kidnap of Ukrainian children after Labour watered down oil sanctions', researchers warn

By ANDREW JEHRING, CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT Published: 00:44, 18 July 2026 | Updated: 00:44, 18 July 2026 British families are unwittingly funding Vladimir Putin's industrial scale kidnap of Ukrainian children after Labour watered down oil sanctions, researchers have warned. Motorists are 'paying at the pump' to Russian firms that have helped facilitate the largest abduction of boys and girls since World War Two, leading experts have said. Sir Keir Starmer ignored a report in March that Moscow's state-owned energy giants and their subsidiaries own filtration camps and fund the militarisation of youngsters. His government pulled back from imposing sanctions on importing Russian petrol and jet fuel from third countries such as India or Turkey two months later. It provoked fury in Ukraine and means Britons could be using Russian-origin diesel at UK forecourts or to fuel flights on holiday this summer. Alarmingly, research by Yale Humanitarian Research Lab suggests firms 'directly implicated' in Vladimir Putin's industrial scale child deportation are making money from British consumers. The facility, which is the world-leading expert in tracking stolen children, unearthed statements indicating Gazprom and Rosneft's role in the policy that has allegedly seen over 20,000 abductions. It was published to warn Donald Trump not to temporarily buy Russian-origin oil due to the energy crisis from the Iran war – but both he and Sir Keir ignored the warnings and pushed ahead. Vladimir Putin with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, who has been dubbed the Russian dictator's 'de facto deputy' Together the firms control over half of Moscow's total oil production meaning its jet fuel and diesel will be amongst those granted a reprieve by Sir Keir's U-turn. Gazprom subsidiary, Gazprom Transgaz Ekaterinburg, posted images and videos of boys and girls being given army training in August 2022. Over 2,0000 children from Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia were taken to at least six camps owned by Gazprom subsidiaries since 2022, researchers found. Rosneft's Interregional Trade Union Organisation also posted sickening pictures of 100 children taken from the same regions at camps in Russian-occupied Crimea in 2023. Both firms are sanctioned by the UK and the government had been due to tighten a loophole that saw Britain buy their products via third countries – but now that may not be closed until 2027. Incredibly, we can also reveal Sir Keir's administration has not been in contact with Yale Humanitarian Research Lab for over a year despite its leading role in finding abducted children. Now experts are calling on Andy Burnham to reverse the decision which sees UK households unwittingly support the colossal alleged war crime. Security expert Anthony Glees said: 'These aren't British values. Putin posing with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller after he was awarded the title of Hero of the Lavor of the Russian Federation in 2022 'For all Starmer's talk, he has followed Trump slavishly in saying there is not enough oil and turning a blind eye to what Putin is doing with respect to the abduction of children. 'We in Britain do understand what it means to face down dictators and grit our teeth and do what we have to do. 'Now we are aiding and abetting Putin and that is, frankly, nauseating.' Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said: 'Clearly, any entity supporting the abduction of Ukrainian children must be sanctioned. Labour must ensure any loopholes are closed. 'Russia’s vile abduction of children is one of many crimes it has committed in its illegal invasion of Ukraine and maximum scrutiny is critical.' Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, said UK families are funding this crime 'at the pump'. He said: 'British consumers are giving money to companies that have actively been involved in the movement and indoctrination of Ukrainian children inside Russia. 'They are literally giving money to companies that stole kids.' Experts and politicians have called on Andy Burnham to tighten the loophole when he replaces Sir Keir Starmer as PM on Monday Labour claimed the watering down of proposed sanctions was a necessary measure given the energy crisis caused by the Iran war. But, paying homage to the British humanitarian who saved hundreds of Jewish children from Nazi death camps in World War Two, Mr Raymond said: 'What would Sir Nicholas Winton say? 'I think you could probably solve Britain's energy crisis by hitching him to a turbine because he'd be turning in his grave so fast.' We can also reveal his research lab – one of the most important conflict monitors in the world guiding major powers's foreign policy – has not had contact with the Labour government in over a year. Sir Keir quietly refused to offer vital financial support to the facility when Donald Trump cut them off last year and has not met or communicated with them since. Mr Raymond, who fears his unit might not make it through summer, said: 'I am drowning in rhetoric of outrage about what happened to the kids while we are dying from poverty due to a lack of assets to actually make those words mean something. 'The EU never showed up and neither did the UK.' A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'It is not the case that we have relaxed sanctions on Russia. 'We continue to bear down on the Kremlin having sanctioned over 3,400 Russia-linked targets, targeting the vessels, finances and individuals enabling Russia’s aggression. 'The UK is committed to facilitating the return and reintegration of children cruelly deported by Russia, in May we announced £1.2m funding to support Ukrainian verification and tracing programmes, bringing our total funding to £4m to help get these children home.' Rosneft claimed the report was 'factually incorrect'. Gazprom and Mr Burnham did not respond to requests for comment.