Sanctioned tankers are back to transporting Russian oil in a blow to the West’s efforts to restrict crude flows

Russia is leaning more heavily on crude tankers that have been blacklisted from the West in a sign Moscow is still finding ways to skirt Western restrictions on its oil trade.

Since April, Russian ports have loaded at least 17 cargoes of oil and oil products onto ships that have already been restricted by the West, according to Bloomberg ship tracking data.

Moscow appears to have ramped up its use of sanctioned vessels over the last several months. A dozen sanctioned ships were known to load Russian crude and crude products in August and September, up from just one sanctioned ship recorded in April, the outlet reported.

Many of Russia’s sanctioned oil tankers were idle after they were placed under trade restrictions, but some seemed to have operated under the radar and have recently started to show up on digital tracking systems, Bloomberg reported.

The Bratsk and Belgorod, for instance, two ships sanctioned by the West, had fallen off the map during their first trip after they had been sanctioned. But both reappeared this month after docking and unloading their cargoes in China, the outlet said.

Another 20 sanctioned tankers are known to be idling near Russia’s coasts or anchored at Russian ports, the report added.

Putin has openly brushed off Western sanctions on its oil trade, calling the Western ban and $60 price cap on its crude “stupid” shortly after those measures were implemented. But even the nation’s central bankers have admitted that sanctions are crimping its oil business, with Russia’s energy revenues dropping by nearly a quarter last year.

Falling crude prices also appear to be hitting Russia’s oil trade. In the first week of September, Moscow pulled just $1.44 billion from its oil exports, the lowest crude revenue recorded since January, Bloomberg previously reported.