Russia's fuel imports from India hit record high in August
What's the story
Russia's fuel imports from India have hit a record high, with 172,000 metric tons of oil products imported in August alone. The surge comes as Ukrainian drone strikes have disrupted Moscow's domestic refining capacity. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India accounted for 70% of Russia's oil product imports last month.
Fuel trade
India supplied 120,000 metric tons of gasoline to Russia
The bulk of the imported fuel was gasoline refined from Russian crude at a refinery in India, which is partly owned by Russia's Rosneft.
In August, India supplied 120,000 metric tons of gasoline worth €78 million to Russia.
The volume was over seven times the previous monthly record and three times the total imported during all of 2025.
Refinery operations
All gasoline imported from India was loaded at Vadinar refinery
All gasoline imported from India was loaded at the Vadinar refinery and sold by EU-sanctioned Nayara Energy to Rosneft.
The report noted that Vadinar sourced all of its crude from Russia in the first eight months of 2026, compared to 81% for all of 2025.
This highlights India's growing role in processing Russian crude into fuel amid domestic production challenges.
Strategic impact
Ukrainian drone strikes disrupt Russia's domestic refining capacity
The surge in Russian fuel imports underscores the impact of a sustained Ukrainian drone campaign against Russia's oil refineries and energy infrastructure.
This has reduced domestic fuel production and contributed to shortages.
Each cargo of gasoline exported from Vadinar to Russia was transferred between vessels in a ship-to-ship operation off Egypt before being unloaded at Russia's Arctic port of Beloe More.