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South Korea Threatens Legal Action Over Alleged Fuel Shipments to Russia
Confirmed
In Short: South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will take legal action if illegal fuel shipments to Russia are confirmed, amid Ukrainian allegations.
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned it will take legal action if allegations of illegal fuel shipments to Russia are confirmed, following claims by an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The adviser, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, stated that 176,000 tonnes of fuel were shipped from South Korea to Russia via sanctioned tankers in July and August.
On Wednesday, South Korea's presidential office dismissed Vlasiuk's statement, saying the government was investigating the cases but had not found evidence of illegal activity. 'We ask that Ukraine also refrain from distorting the relevant policies of the Republic of Korea without sufficient verification of the facts and making public remarks that can damage international trust,' a spokesperson said.
An investigation by The Guardian, based on port records and ship-tracking data, found that more than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, were loaded at South Korean ports in July and August onto seven tankers that made 14 voyages to Russia’s Far East. The Guardian also noted that South Korea accounted for 112,000 tonnes, or about 31% of Russia’s overall imports, second only to India.
The shipments involved seven tankers making 14 voyages to Russia’s far east, according to an analysis of port records and ship-tracking data. One received its cargo through a ship-to-ship transfer in South Korean waters, a method that can make a shipment’s origin harder to trace. The Guardian found that the sanctioned tanker Layla made two voyages from Ulsan to Vladivostok, carrying a combined 57,000 tonnes of diesel.
Relations between South Korea and Ukraine have been strained for the past couple of weeks after Seoul accused Zelenskyy of having ‘unilaterally disclosed’ to the United Nations General Assembly that Kyiv had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. Seoul demanded an official apology from Kyiv, claiming the Ukrainian president had breached a non-disclosure agreement.
The shipments do not appear to violate South Korean law, as Seoul’s sanctions on Russia primarily focus on export controls covering goods such as industrial machinery, electronics, and vehicles. However, the shipments also cast doubt on Seoul’s stance on the war in Ukraine, particularly as Seoul has publicly supported Kyiv while stopping short of providing lethal weapons.
South Korea has supplied Ukraine with humanitarian aid and non-lethal military equipment and pledged $2.3 billion in support in 2023, largely through loans. The reported route would mirror a similar shipment in 2022, when around 22,000 barrels of jet fuel were transported from Chiba to Russia’s Far Eastern port of Vladivostok via Yeosu.
As well as the initial release of 300,000 tonnes of diesel, Trump said Russia would then supply 500,000 tonnes in November and one million more after that. 'At that point, several tankers were still shown as in transit with no confirmed destination, so their cargoes weren’t yet counted as arriving in Russia. A fuller Kpler extract on Sept. 24 showed 368,000 tonnes for August 2026,' Wickenden told Kyiv Post.
What this adds
The Guardian's report and South Korea's response highlight the complex international sanctions landscape and the challenges in verifying compliance.
The shipments involved seven tankers making 14 voyages to Russia’s far east, according to an analysis of port records and ship-tracking data.
Background
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will take legal action if illegal fuel shipments to Russia are confirmed, amid Ukrainian allegations.
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will take legal action if illegal fuel shipments to Russia are confirmed, amid Ukrainian allegations.
What's confirmed
- An investigation by The Guardian, based on port records and ship-tracking data, found that more than 176,000 tonnes (metric tons) of fuel, mostly diesel, were loaded at South Korean ports in July and August onto seven tankers that made 14 voyages to Russia’s Far East.
- Responding to a Guardian report that revealed thousands of tonnes of fuel was transported to Russia, Seoul said it was investigating the cases Responding to a Guardian report that revealed thousands of tonnes of fuel was transported to Russia, Seoul said it was investigating the cases South Korea will take legal action if it finds that shipments of fuel from its ports to Russia broke domestic law, the government has said, responding to a Guardian report on the trade.
What's still developing
- Ever-tighter sanctions against Moscow have left a South Korean shipbuilder struggling to find buyers for specialized vessels intended to serve Russia’s newest liquefied natural gas facility, threatening to delay exports from the Arctic project.
- R ussia announced Monday it would escalate its military campaign against Kyiv, warning foreign nationals and diplomats to evacuate the Ukrainian capital as it threatened to strike "decision-making centres" and command posts, drawing swift defiance from Western missions and Ukrainian officials.
- Efforts to bring the fighting to a close have gained little traction.
- An Irish government inquiry found no proof that Aughinish’s output entered Russia’s military supply chain, but could not rule out that possibility.
- Its shipments of alumina to Russia have risen significantly since the full-scale invasion and now represent about half of the plant’s business, according to the Irish Times.
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- The findings echoed a report from Reuters in early July, which said Russia sought jet fuel from Japan’s Chiba port to Russia via South Korea, though it’s unclear whether the operations relate to the latest findings presented by The Guardian.
- US President Donald Trump announced that he spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and reached an agreement regarding supplies of Russian diesel fuel to the US and global markets.
- Trump announced on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to release 300,000 tonnes of diesel immediately “to the American and global marketplace”, followed by several additional shipments.
- President Donald Trump said Friday that Russia has agreed to release millions of tons of diesel fuel into U.S. and global markets following a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, marking a significant shift in U.S. energy sanctions policy as the White House seeks to bring down fuel prices ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
- Russia also supplies Iran with missiles, a Western official says, as fighting in Yemen threatens another key shipping route Iran preserved its missile and drone factories despite months of US-Israeli bombing, allowing it to replenish its arsenals during the current lull in fighting, Bloomberg reported on Saturdau.
- Aughinish Alumina told senior Irish officials that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the refinery’s links to sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska had created a “challenging environment” for its operations, the Irish Times reported, citing government records obtained through a freedom-of-information request.