Sanctioned Tankers Ship South Korean Fuel to Russia — SkimNews
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- Guardian analysis of port records and ship-tracking data found that over 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, was loaded at South Korean ports in July and August onto seven tankers that made 14 voyages to Russia's far east.
- Three of the seven vessels were under UK and EU sanctions; the Chongchon took on roughly 26,000 tonnes via ship-to-ship transfer off Yeosu — a method that can obscure cargo origins and avoid port calls.
- The sanctioned tanker Layla made two Ulsan-to-Vladivostok voyages carrying 57,000 tonnes of diesel, with Kpler identifying buyers including sanctioned Russian state oil firm Rosneft and NNK (whose owner Eduard Khudainatov is UK-sanctioned).
- Russia's fuel crunch has driven the trade: the IEA says refinery throughput fell in June to a 20-year low and diesel output is down nearly 30% year-on-year, a shortfall Ukraine's HUR military intelligence attributes to Ukrainian drone strikes.
- South Korea accounted for 112,000 tonnes — 31% — of Russia's 368,000-tonne August seaborne fuel imports, the highest monthly total since the full-scale invasion, second only to India.
- The shipments do not appear to breach South Korean law, because Seoul's Russia measures rely on export controls of goods such as machinery and electronics, not import restrictions; the foreign ministry said it has expanded controls to 1,402 non-strategic items.
- Loadings at South Korean ports surged in July, coinciding with President Lee Jae Myung's pledge of $100m for Ukraine's reconstruction at a NATO summit in Turkey; Seoul's foreign ministry and the UK Foreign Office both declined to address the specific shipments.
Why it matters: Western sanctions on Russian oil buyers and tanker vessels do not bind Seoul, letting sanctioned ships load freely at South Korean ports and undercut the sanctions regime South Korea's president publicly supports. With Russia importing 368,000 tonnes of seaborne fuel in August — its highest monthly total since the invasion — the loophole is now feeding roughly a third of that volume through a country that just pledged reconstruction aid to Ukraine.
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