France increased its imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 34% in June, even as Russia’s overall fossil fuel export earnings fell by 1%, according to new data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
The figures underscore the European Union’s continued reliance on Russian gas despite efforts to curb the Kremlin’s energy revenues. While Russia’s fossil fuel export revenues declined to €734 million per day in June, French purchases of Russian LNG surged month-on-month, even as the country’s total LNG unloadings fell by 35%.
Across the EU, imports of Russian LNG declined just 5% from May but remained 14% higher than in June 2025, highlighting the bloc’s continued dependence on Russian gas more than four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s fossil fuel export revenues fell despite a 7% increase in export volumes, suggesting weaker prices offset higher sales.
Crude oil export revenues declined 8% month-on-month, while export volumes increased 14%. The increase was driven by a 68% surge in crude loadings at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, offsetting declines of 10% at Ust-Luga and 9% at Primorsk on Russia’s Baltic coast.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s sustained drone strikes on Russian refineries continued to disrupt the country’s fuel exports. Seaborne oil product loadings fell 21% month-on-month to a record low in June as domestic fuel shortages and a temporary ban on jet fuel exports constrained shipments.
Despite the EU’s ban on imports of oil products refined from Russian crude, eight shipments of such products were unloaded at EU ports in June.
CREA found that refineries in India, Türkiye, Brunei and Georgia that process Russian crude exported €814 million worth of oil products to countries sanctioning Russia during the month, demonstrating how Russian oil continues to reach Western markets after being refined abroad.
India remained a key buyer of Russian crude, with imports rising 34% month-on-month to a record €4.5 billion in June.
The report also shows Russia continues to rely heavily on its so-called shadow fleet to move fossil fuel exports. In June, 54% of Russia’s seaborne oil exports were transported by sanctioned shadow tankers, while another 43% was carried by G7+ tankers. The remaining volume was shipped by non-sanctioned shadow vessels.
CREA identified 15 vessels that entered the Russian oil trade during June. Twelve of those tankers were owned or insured by G7+ entities at the time they loaded Russian oil, highlighting ongoing gaps in sanctions enforcement.
The report further found that 45 shadow fleet vessels transporting Russian fossil fuels were operating under false flags at the end of June.
One positive development came from Cameroon. After becoming the second-largest flag registry for sanctioned Russian tankers earlier this year, the country has begun removing vessels from its registry, reducing the number of sanctioned tankers flying its flag from 143 at the end of March to 116 by the end of June.
Read the full monthly analysis of Russian fossil fuel exports and sanctions