Russia’s Shadow Fleet Shipments from Baltic Ports Rise 10.1%, KSE Institute Says

Shadow fleet shipments from Baltic Sea ports rose 10.1% in July as Russia’s seaborne oil exports fell – KSE Institute Russia’s seaborne exports of crude oil and oil products stood at around 5.3 mb/d in July 2026, down 10.7% m-o-m and 6.4% y-o-y. Russia used 268 tankers, including 150, or 56%, shadow fleet vessels. Overall shadow fleet exports fell by 6.1% m-o-m but remained 1.1% above July 2025.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Shadow tankers transported the largest volumes from Pacific Ocean ports, which accounted for 41% of shipments, and Baltic Sea ports, with 35%. Shadow fleet exports from Baltic ports rose by 10.1% m-o-m and 21.2% y-o-y. China and India remained the main destinations for shadow fleet oil, accounting for 37% and 22% of volumes, respectively, while 33% of shipments had an unknown destination. Chinese and Russian ship managers jointly handled 56% of shadow fleet exports. In July, 41 shadow fleet tankers, or 27% of the total, operated under Russian insurance. Of these, 36, or 88%, were sanctioned by at least one jurisdiction. At the same time, 93% of shadow fleet tankers used in July were more than 15 years old. The full report can be found here. KSE Institute is an analytical center at the Kyiv School of Economics. In 2005, KSE / EERC and the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) established the Kyiv Economics Institute (KEI) to provide scientific economic facts for economic policy-making and changing the policy-making process based on data and facts. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, KSE Institute analysts have focused on key wartime projects (LeaveRussia, participation in the Yermak-McFaul International Sanctions Group, Reconstruction projects), actively cooperating with the Ukrainian government in assessing damages, the effectiveness of sanctions against the aggressor and the development of scenarios for the recovery of Ukraine’s economy after the war.