The Guardian’s analysis found that the fuel was carried on 14 voyages to Russia’s far east. One sanctioned tanker, the Layla, made two voyages from the port of Ulsan to Vladivostok carrying a total of 57,000 tonnes of diesel. On its second trip the tanker told South Korean authorities it was bound for Niigata in Japan.
At least one cargo was transferred via a ship-to-ship transfer in South Korean waters, a method that can obscure the origin of the fuel and allow vessels to avoid calling at port terminals.
“It is shocking that EU-sanctioned tankers loaded fuel at South Korean ports and carried it to Russia,” said Isaac Levi, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Finnish thinktank. “This undermines the sanctions regime and South Korea’s support for Ukraine.”
Seoul has sent Ukraine humanitarian aid and non-lethal military supplies such as helmets, body armour and demining vehicles, and pledged $2.3bn in support, most of it in loans. However, it has ruled out sending direct weapons to Ukraine, in line with its practice of not supplying lethal arms to countries at war. South Korea has also sought to improve ties with Russia throughout the conflict.
The fuel trade does not appear to breach South Korean law. The country’s own measures against Russia rely mainly on export controls on goods such as industrial machinery, electronics and vehicles. But the shipments risk making Seoul appear inconsistent in its public backing for Kyiv, especially as relations between the two countries have come under strain recently over the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.
It is unclear who owned or sold the fuel, as South Korean port records do not show that information. The analysis also noted that three of the seven tankers were sanctioned by the UK and EU, highlighting gaps between the sanctions regimes of different countries and enforcement at the port level.