Russian Companies Use Indonesian Port as Oil Smuggling Hub to Bypass Sanctions
Russian firms are circumventing Western sanctions by rerouting oil exports through the Indonesian port of Karimun, which has emerged as a key hub for shadow oil trading in 2025.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
Facing ongoing restrictions from the West, Moscow has intensified efforts to find alternative pathways for crude oil and petroleum product exports. The port of Karimun, located in a free trade zone and operating outside the jurisdiction of Indonesian authorities, has become a central node in this strategy.
Ukrainian intelligence reports that the port enables sanctioned Russian oil to be blended with fuel from other countries. This masking process allows the rebranded oil to be falsely labeled as Indonesian-origin, effectively avoiding enforcement of sanctions. These mixed petroleum products are then re-exported to markets in Singapore, Malaysia, and China.
Since early 2025, nearly 590,000 tons of fuel oil have been shipped through Karimun from Russia’s Ust-Luga port, up sharply from roughly 100,000 tons during the same period in 2024. In addition, 217,000 tons of diesel fuel and 50,000 tons of crude oil have also been exported from Russia via this route for the first time.
At least three tankers under EU and UK sanctions made port calls to Karimun between March and April 2025. The trade has been facilitated by obscure intermediary firms that frequently change names to obscure their identities before deliveries reach final destinations.
Ukrainian intelligence also warns of the growing scale and sophistication of Russia’s sanctions evasion tactics. Since 2022, Russian smuggling operations have reportedly grown by an estimated 25-30% annually.
This report underscores the need for enhanced international monitoring of free trade zones and maritime oil shipments amid the evolving landscape of sanctions evasion.
As The Gaze reported earlier, the United Kingdom has announced sanctions on up to 100 Russian oil tankers associated with the so-called “shadow fleet” – vessels operating outside global regulatory frameworks to circumvent embargoes.