Vladimir Putin is using third party proxies to sell Russian oil into the UK, in a sly move to avoid Western sanctions.
Oil and gas revenues are a key part of Russia’s budget which helps it to fund its brutal war in Ukraine.
Last year the Kremlin planned for a federal revenue of 8.939 trillion roubles (£77.8bn) from fossil fuel sales, or more than 34 percent of its total budget revenue.
Despite Western sanctions and a price cap on Russian oil, the Kremlin is raking in record amounts of money from fossil fuel sales.
Analysis carried out by Sky News shows that in the there months to April, Russia made a monthly average of 1.2 trillion roubles (£10.4bn).
This is the highest three-month average since April 2022.
Adding insult to injury, Russian oil is seeping into the UK through the back door and providing fuel for British cars and planes.
Prior to the war in Ukraine the biggest markets for Russian oil and gas were the European Union, the US and China.
Since then the UK, US and EU have all banned the import of crude oil or refined products from Russia.
This has forced Russia to find new markets in India and Turkey to compensate for sanctions.
India is importing record amounts of fossil fuels from Russia, while Britain is buying huge quantities of oil from Indian refineries – up by 176 percent since the invasion of Ukraine.
This means inevitably that Russian oil is making its way into the UK, giving Putin the last laugh.
Lela Stanley, a senior investigator at Global Witness, said: “Millions of barrels of fuel made from Russian oil continue to pour into the UK.”
She added: “Last year alone, this trade was worth over £100m to the Kremlin.
“Make no mistake: until the government closes this loophole, Britain is helping Russia pay for its war on Ukraine.
“The good news? We can fix this. The UK should act now to ban the import of fuels made from Russian oil and show its support for Ukraine is sincere.”
