A European research group has reported that Russia relied heavily on a fast-expanding “shadow fleet” in 2025 to move its crude oil across global waters. According to the think tank, 113 Russian-linked vessels sailed under false flags between January and September 2025. These ships allegedly used falsified registrations, switched flags frequently, or disabled tracking systems to hide their true identity and ownership while transporting Russian oil.
The group estimated that these vessels carried 13% of Russia’s crude exports, which amounted to around 11 million tonnes valued at €4.7 billion in the first nine months of the year. The report described a rapid and worrying increase in these ships. By September 2025, it counted 90 Russian “shadow” tankers using false flags, which it said was a six-fold rise compared with December 2024.
Many of these vessels were described as older tankers that had been brought back into service despite their age. The report also noted that 96 sanctioned vessels had used a false flag at least once in 2025, and 85 ships changed their flags at least two times within six months of being sanctioned by authorities in the European Union, the United States, or the United Kingdom.
According to the think tank, India became the largest national destination for Russian crude transported through these false-flagged tankers in the first three quarters of 2025. It said 30 such vessels delivered 5.4 million tonnes of crude oil to India between January and September, valued at €2.1 billion.
This rise in shipments was linked to India’s increased buying of Russian oil after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Before that time, Russian crude made up under 1% of India’s oil imports. But when Western sanctions reduced European demand and pushed prices down, Russia began offering oil at significant discounts. As a result, India boosted its purchases sharply, and within a short period Russian oil grew to nearly 40% of India’s total crude imports.
In November 2025, Russia remained India’s top oil supplier, accounting for over one-third of the country’s crude imports that month. While the report did not list all destinations of the shadow fleet, it confirmed that €2.1 billion worth of oil carried by false-flag tankers reached India in the first nine months of 2025, making it the biggest identified buyer.
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Legal, Environmental, and Safety Worries Over False-Flag Operations
The research group warned that the rise in false-flag shipping poses serious risks to global maritime safety and law. Every vessel at sea must legally sail under a recognized national flag, as required by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Countries that register ships must be able to monitor them and ensure they follow safety standards. The think tank stated that false-flag operations violate these rules and make it difficult to track vessel ownership, insurance, and compliance.
The report found that six flag registries that had never flagged Russian ships before February 2022 each had at least 10 such ships in their fleets by September 2025. Together, these registries held 162 shadow vessels, suggesting operators targeted countries with limited capacity to oversee foreign-owned ships.
A major concern raised was the safety of older tankers operating without valid insurance. The group explained that when a ship uses a false flag, its insurance becomes void. This poses risks for coastal regions, especially along heavily used routes. The report highlighted that in September 2025, false-flagged vessels carried €1.4 billion worth of Russian crude and oil products through the Danish Straits, a narrow and sensitive passage for global shipping.
The researchers said these developments raise risks for countries along shipping routes and create challenges for efforts to enforce sanctions aimed at restricting Russia’s oil income.