BRUSSELS — Russian-linked vessels are continuing to leak oil off Europe’s shores — despite Western sanctions — underscoring the continent’s inability to rein in Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet.
In the past year, at least five tankers from Russia’s sanctions-dodging armada have carried on sailing unimpeded in European waters after leaving oil slicks near the continent, according to a joint investigation by the not-for-profit journalism group SourceMaterial and POLITICO.
Two of those vessels had been individually sanctioned by the United Kingdom before they left the slicks.
These new revelations, which draw on satellite footage from the SkyTruth NGO paired with shipping data from the Kpler commodities platform, follow a 2024 investigation by POLITICO documenting oil spills by the Russian shadow fleet. They highlight the difficulty Western governments face in throttling Russian oil exports and minimizing the risk of ecological disaster in their waters.
