By Owen Carpenter-Zehe,

 

BRUSSELS, 25 Feb. - (ANA) - The Russian fossil-fuel business is hurting after four years of war with Ukraine, with the EU, for one, reducing its reliance on Moscow’s fuel, but Vladimir Putin is finding ways to maneouvre around sanctions to sell its product, according to a new report on Tuesday (24 February).

 

To mark the four-year anniversary of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the report published by Finnish NGO The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) looks at Russian fossil-fuel revenue and exports over four years since the start of the war— as international bodies have sanctioned the country’s enormous fuel industry as a way to hurt the aggressor.  

 

In total, the researchers found Russia’s fossil-fuel revenues down 27 percent from its pre-invasion level, to €193bn, with a 19 percent year-on-year decrease in 2025.

 

Moscow has been forced to sell its fuel at a significantly reduced price since the invasion.

 

And the EU saw a 36 percent year-on-year reduction in fossil-fuel imports from Russia in 2025, to €14.5bn in total. This decrease was particularly led by a drop in natural gas imports, which fell to its lowest level since 2022.

 

The EU has approved 19 separate sanctions packages since the start of the war to, in part, restrict Russian fuel imports and launched the REPowerEU initiative to diversify the EU’s energy sources away from Moscow. 

 

“Europe’s reduced dependence on Russian fossil fuels has improved in the most recent 12 months,”  said Isaac Levi, energy policy analyst at CREA in the report’s press release.

 

“But loopholes and exemptions continue to funnel money into the Kremlin’s war chest,” he added.

 

 

 

 

The CREA report highlights that Russian fuel is still being moved and sold, as crude-oil export volumes were six percent above pre-invasion levels, with some of the products still landing in, or moving through, the EU.

 

One issue for the EU, that the report cites, is that Hungary and Slovakia are still importing Russian crude oil via pipelines, with Hungary increasing its reliance on its crude oil over the four-year period from 61 percent in 2021 to 92 percent. 

 

And these two member states increased their Russian imports by 11 percent in the first 10 months of 2025. 

 

The EU prohibited the purchase of Russia’s crude oil in 2022, but granted landlocked member states with no alternative to it in an exemption, with the aim of taking the opportunity to diversify first, then comply with the ban when possible.

 

However, the researchers see Slovakia and Hungary as abusing this exemption. 

 

“Closing gaps in the EU’s ban on oil products made from Russian crude, are practical steps that would strengthen sanctions and reduce the revenues financing Russia’s invasion,” explained Levi. 

 

 

 

 

The CEPA report also points to the Kremlin’s increased reliance and evolution of its shadow fleet of maritime vessels to carry fuel products.

 

The most-recent, 19th round of EU sanctions brought the total number of listed shadow fleet vessels to 557. 

 

However, the fleet has partially moved to carrying its oil on vessels that are “false flagging,’ or boats illegally flying the identifying flag of another nation to circumvent the sanctions.

 

The report found that shadow fleet vessels’ false flagging went from 12 at the beginning of 2025 to a peak of 109 in October. 

 

“Falsely-flagged vessels specifically … transported an estimated €8.4bn of Russian oil and oil products in 2025, with over a third of that cargo transiting EU waters,” said Luke Wickenden, energy analyst at CEPS. 

 

The bloc is currently negotiating the 20th round, which includes more vessels and stricter sanctions on the shadow fleet.

 

But some maritime EU member states are unsure about implementing the potential rules, and Hungary is currently vetoing thepackage. 

 

To address this mode of export, the researchers recommend requiring flag certification for vessels moving through EU waters.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/25 February 2026 - - -