Europe is signalling a tougher fight against Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” — vessels the Kremlin uses to export oil illegally. The EU has already sanctioned around 600 ships, banning them from entering EU ports and from receiving maritime services. Similar sanctions on Russia have also been introduced by the United States and the United Kingdom. Experts argue that tackling the shadow fleet is necessary not only to reduce revenues flowing into Russia’s state budget, but also because of the risks it poses to European security and the environment.
“The fight against Russia’s shadow fleet is ongoing, and on this front Western states sanctioning the fleet are achieving successes. It is worth noting that around two-thirds of the vessels Russia uses as part of its shadow fleet have been covered by Western sanctions, because the United States, the European Union and the British all sanction them. In total, the number of vessels listed across all sanctions regimes is between 600 and 700. According to independent industry sources, the shadow fleet Russia uses to handle exports of crude oil and petroleum products consists of around one thousand vessels,” Dr. Szymon Kardaś from the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Warsaw, and a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Newseria.
In October 2025, the European Union adopted its 19th sanctions package against Russia. Under it, another 117 ships were subjected to a port access ban and a ban on a wide range of services related to maritime transport. At that point, the list totalled 557 vessels. In December 2025, a further 41 ships were added. They are subject to a ban on access to ports and on using a broad range of maritime transport services. The EU also imposed sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for supporting Russia’s shadow fleet and its value chain.
“Sanctioning additional vessels and blocking their ability to use insurance services or to call at ports complicates life for exporting companies. It generates additional costs and creates the need to replenish the fleet with new ships. This, of course, reduces the revenues the Russian Federation earns from oil sales, because it significantly complicates logistics chains,” Dr. Kardaś explained.
EU sanctions are directed at non-EU tankers — including those belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet — that bypass the oil price-cap mechanism, support Russia’s energy sector, transport military equipment for Russia, or carry grain stolen from Ukraine.
“On the other hand, as part of this fight against the shadow fleet, the Russians are adapting to these conditions. They are adding new ships to the fleet and looking for alternative options when it comes to entities trading Russian oil. If we look at the statistical data for 2025, the volume of Russian oil exports fell only very slightly compared with 2024, which shows that the actors involved in exports are managing to circumvent some of these restrictions and, for now, keep volumes at a similar level,” the analyst stressed.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Russian oil exports in November 2025 fell by 420,000 barrels per day to 6.9 million barrels. Combined with lower prices, this contributed to a drop in revenues to $11 billion — $3.6 billion less year on year. The IEA emphasised that in November export revenues fell to their lowest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In October 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Russia in connection with its lack of engagement in the peace process. The aim was to increase pressure on Russia’s energy sector and curb funding for the war machine. The sanctions covered two of Russia’s largest oil companies: Rosneft and Lukoil.
“We will see how these two key companies producing and exporting Russian oil adapt to the new conditions and to what extent the Americans will be ready to enforce the new restrictions,” Dr. Kardaś noted. “The question is also how determined Russia — but also China or India — will be to find mechanisms for circumventing sanctions, meaning finding or creating new trading companies that would enter the supply chain and allow these export channels to keep functioning somehow.”
As he emphasised, this is a continuous contest. On the one hand, Western countries expand sanctions to curb seaborne oil exports; on the other, Russia constantly searches for ways to bypass restrictions.
“European states are now considering making it possible to stop shadow-fleet vessels and seize them if there is suspicion that they pose a threat to security. We will see how feasible this will be to implement. It is somewhat modelled on actions taken by the Americans with regard to shadow-fleet units handling exports of Venezuelan oil,” the expert explained.
On 22 January this year, France’s President reported via the X platform that the French Navy had stopped a Russian tanker subject to international sanctions. The operation was carried out on the high seas in the Mediterranean with support from allies.
At the end of January, the UK Department for Transport prepared a document calling for a tougher fight against Russia’s shadow fleet. Fourteen countries — including Poland — signed it. The document sets out 13 principles that ships must meet to navigate safely in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. One principle may be treated as a pretext for tougher action against the shadow fleet: it states that ships flying the flags of two or more states, using them at their own discretion, may be treated as vessels without nationality. In addition, ships must have, among other things, insurance or other financial security, as well as safety management systems. The signatories announced additional sanctions for breaches of regulations in the Baltic and North Sea waters.
“Shadow-fleet vessels potentially pose a very serious threat. These are usually old ships, in very poor technical condition, which are no longer suitable for legal operation by companies able to trade oil from various sources. That is why they move into the grey zone and feed the shadow fleet,” Dr. Kardaś stressed. “Because of their condition and the fact that they transport sensitive cargo, they are potentially ticking environmental time bombs.”
Moreover, Russia also uses these ships for diversionary activities, which makes them a threat to the security of European states.
“The Baltic Sea is a very important trade route, because oil exported from two large Baltic ports — Ust-Luga and Primorsk — accounts for around 50% of the crude that Russia exports from all of its oil ports overall,” the expert said. “The vessels operating in the Baltic pose a threat to the energy infrastructure on the seabed used by EU states. In addition, there is suspicion that they may be equipped with various installations used for data collection and signal jamming.”
The European Union is also planning legal regulations that, not as part of sanctions but under trade policy, will ban the import of Russian crude oil into member states. According to the European Commission’s announcements, it is to present a legislative proposal on this at the beginning of this year, so that the ban takes effect no later than 2027. According to the Commission, Russia’s share in the EU’s crude oil imports fell from 27% in 2022 to 2% in 2025. Today, this oil flows via the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary.
