Financing Putin’s war: Fossil fuel exports from Russia in the first six months of the invasion of Ukraine

August 24 marked Ukraine’s 31st Independence Day, and the passage of six months since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression aiming to end that independence.

To shed light on who purchases Russiaʼs oil, gas and coal, and how the volume and value of imports have changed since the start of the invasion, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has compiled a detailed dataset of pipeline and seaborne trade in Russian fossil fuels.

Russia earned EUR 158 billion in revenue from fossil fuel exports in the first six months of the war (February 24 to August 24). The EU imported 54% of this, worth approximately EUR 85 billion.

Fossil fuel exports have contributed approximately EUR 43 billion to Russia’s federal budget since the start of the invasion, helping fund war crimes in Ukraine.

The largest fossil fuel importer was the EU (EUR 85.1bln), followed by China (EUR34.9bln), Turkey (EUR10.7bln), India (EUR6.6bln), Japan (EUR2.5bln), Egypt (EUR2.3bln, and South Korea (EUR2bln).

Surging fossil fuel prices mean that Russia’s current revenue is far above previous years’ level, despite the reductions in this year’s export volumes.

Financing Putin’s war: Fossil fuel exports from Russia in the first six months of the invasion of Ukraine

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