Russia is conducting illegal oil transshipment in open waters near Greece, posing a significant threat to the environment.
This was reported by the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
"Since July 2024, an Aframax-type tanker IMO 9247443, without Western insurance, has been illegally transshipping oil between tankers in the open sea near the coasts of Greece and Cyprus. Such operations pose an environmental threat, allow the aggressor to conceal the origin of the oil, evade international control, and ensure its supply to third countries bypassing sanctions," states the Defence Intelligence.
On the War&Sanctions platform, intelligence agents have published data on the vessel that the aggressor state is using as a floating transshipment hub for supplying sanctioned oil.
Additionally, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine provided data on 159 oil tankers, most of which belong to Russia’s so-called "shadow fleet," as well as information on 55 captains of this fleet.
Overall, the War&Sanctions portal database presents information on 577 such oil tankers. The total deadweight of the identified vessels exceeds 63 million metric tons.
"In the fourth year of full-scale invasion, oil and gas exports remain a key source of revenue for the Russian budget. It is estimated that a third of these revenues in 2025 is directed towards financing the war against Ukraine," highlighted the Defence Intelligence.
The report notes that the "shadow fleet" actively engages in high-risk practices in maritime logistics, including turning off automatic identification systems, spoofing navigation data, transshipping oil at night without lighting, using flags of convenience jurisdictions, and registering shell companies.
The Defence Intelligence emphasizes that this poses serious threats to environmental safety, especially due to the technical condition of the old vessels in the "shadow fleet" and the lack of insurance, which could lead to large-scale accidents and environmental disasters near the shores of European Union countries.
According to intelligence officers, besides evading sanctions, the "shadow fleet" is used by the aggressor country as an element of hybrid warfare. Instances have been recorded of such vessels participating in reconnaissance and sabotage operations, for example in the Baltic Sea, where they monitor naval infrastructure, underwater cables, and more.
The Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine stresses the need to intensify sanctions pressure on the Russian economy: reducing the price cap on oil and oil products; urging G7 and EU countries to refuse the import of oil products made from Russian raw materials; banning STS operations in the territorial waters of G7 and EU countries; enhancing control over insurance coverage of vessels in the Western market; and imposing a complete ban on the import of Russian LNG (liquefied natural gas) and pipeline fuel.