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In January 2026, 8 violations of the EU embargo on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil from the Black Sea were recorded. Six of them were involved the delivery of crude oil to the ports of the EU countries. Two voyages were made to the transshipment points near the EU ports. In January 2026, a total of 912.684 tons of Russian crude oil were delivered to the EU in violation of the embargo.

Despite Western sanctions, Russia managed to maintain operational civil aviation throughout 2025 by relying on parallel import networks in countries that did not impose sanctions restrictions. While the UAE, Turkey, and China served as primary transit hubs during 2022–2024, new enforcement measures in late 2024 prompted corresponding modifications to Russia's evasion schemes. Specifically, by 2025, India had emerged as the principal channel with documented shipments exceeding $50 million, routes through Central Asia and the Caucasus proliferated via multi-jurisdictional corporate chains, and intermediaries increasingly shifted business models and jurisdictions to evade detection. This report documents the specific trends and developments of 2025 against the baseline sanctions-evasion architecture established during 2022–2024.

In January 2026, 9 violations of the EU embargo on seaborne imports of Russian petroleum products (excluding crude oil) from the Black Sea were recorded. 8 of violations involved the delivery of petroleum products to a transshipment points off the coasts of Cyprus and Romania. 1 direct voyage was made to the port of EU. In January 2026, 327.716 tons of Russian petroleum products were delivered in violation of the embargo.

In January 2026, 166 violations of the export of Russian crude oil and petroleum products from the Black Sea were recorded. Almost 10.3 mln tons of Russian crude oil, Kazakh crude oil by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) and petroleum products were delivered through the Russian ports of the Black Sea.

In January 2026, Russian forces carried out no fewer than 22 attacks using missiles, UAVs, and USVs on the ports of Greater Odesa involved in the Ukrainian export corridor, Danube region ports, and Odesa Oblast. The strikes involved no less than: 5 Iskander BMs, 2 Kh-31P ARMs, 4 guided aerial bombs (GBU), and no fewer than 200 strike and decoy UAVs.

In December 2025, a total of 25 tankers exported CPC oil from the Russian port of Novorossiysk. Together they exported a total of about 3.8 million tons of oil, including 3.1 million tons to the EU and 739 thousands tons to other countries.

In December 2025, 13 violations of the EU embargo on seaborne imports of Russian petroleum products (excluding crude oil) from the Black Sea were recorded. 11 of violations involved the delivery of petroleum products to a transshipment points off the coasts of Cyprus and Romania. 2 direct voyages were made to the ports of the US. In December 2025, 506.897 tons of Russian petroleum products were delivered in violation of the embargo.

In December 2025, 10 violations of the EU embargo on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil from the Black Sea were recorded. Eight of them were involved the delivery of crude oil to the ports of the EU countries. Two voyages were made to the transshipment points near the EU ports. In December 2025, a total of 1.291.785 tons of Russian crude oil were delivered to the EU in violation of the embargo.

In December 2025, 177 violations of the export of Russian crude oil and petroleum products from the Black Sea were recorded. Almost 12.7 mln tons of Russian crude oil, Kazakh crude oil by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) and petroleum products were delivered through the Russian ports of the Black Sea.

Between January--December 2025, Russian military attacked the ports of Greater Odesa involved in the export corridor operation, Danube and Odesa Oblast 184 times, using no fewer than: 61 Iskander CM and BM, 5 Kh-59/Kh-69 ALCMs, 12 Kh-31P ARMs, 4 Kalibr SLCMs, 4 Oniks AShM, 2 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ALBM, 38 GBUs, 5 USVs, 1600 strike and decoy UAVs.

In December 2025, 14 violations (512 372 tons) of the EU/US embargo on seaborne imports of Russian petroleum products (excluding crude oil) to the transshipment points and EU/US ports from the Baltic Sea were recorded. The voyages were made by tankers belonging to shipowners registered in Greece, UAE, Singapore, China, Turkey, Italy and Norway.

Now that the US administration has effectively set out to dismantle the existing sanctions regime against Russia and is using the numerous sanctions imposed by the previous administration merely as a bargaining chip in business negotiations with the Russian Federation, the importance of European policy is growing. Europe needs – not merely to support Ukraine, but for its own security – to take the lead in exerting pressure on Russia. 

In December 2025, 3 violations (345 997 tons) of the EU embargo on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil from the Baltic Sea were recorded. The voyages were made by tankers belonging to shipowners registered in Greece.

In December 2025, 174 violations of the export of Russian crude oil and petroleum products from the Baltic Sea were recorded. 14 mln tons of Russian crude oil and petroleum products were delivered through the Russian ports of the Baltic Sea.

In November 2025, 12 violations (554.382 tons) of the EU/US embargo on seaborne imports of Russian petroleum products (excluding crude oil) to the transshipment points and EU/US ports from the Baltic Sea were recorded. The voyages were made by tankers belonging to shipowners registered in Greece, China, Oman and Germany.