UK and EU Gasoline Is Reaching Russia Through a Moroccan Blending Hub

Sustained Ukrainian strikes on Russian refining capacity have produced something not seen since the start of the war: Russia importing gasoline and diesel at scale.

Windward’s analysis of shipping data, combined with Vortexa trade-flow data, puts total Russian imports at an estimated 3.85 million barrels across July–August 2026 — roughly 500,000 barrels in July, rising to about 3.4 million in August as the refinery crisis deepened. Gasoline and gasoline-blending components accounted for 3.1 million barrels of that total.

The more consequential finding is where some of that fuel likely originates. The data indicates a meaningful share is UK- and EU-origin product, moved to Russia through blending and storage infrastructure in Morocco.

In parallel, record South Korean volumes are supplying Russia’s east coast, using ship-to-ship (STS) transfers in third-country waters, sanctioned and Russia-flagged tonnage, and opaque terminal blending.

It is the same playbook long used to launder Russian crude and refined product exports, now running in the import direction.

Morocco: Tanger Med as a Blending and Re-Export Hub

Windward’s analysis of shipments received at a major tank storage facility at Morocco’s Tanger Med port — a 3.35-million-barrel, 19-tank terminal — shows EU and UK gasoline being received, blended, and re-exported to Russia.

The tracked flows:

• ~1.0 million barrels of gasoline received at the terminal, January–August 2026 — nine tankers, loading in Spain, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Italy, and the UK.
• ~1.0 million barrels shipped to Russia, June–July 2026 — three tankers, delivered to Russian Arctic and Baltic ports.
• ~500,000 barrels currently in transit to Russia from Tanger Med.

The terminal’s last non-Russia gasoline export was ~260,000 barrels to Spain in May 2026.

Tracked outflow to Russia exceeds tracked 2026 EU/UK inflow, consistent with blending with older stock at the terminal to obscure cargo origin.

No other country received finished gasoline cargoes from the terminal during the period, and no other country outside the EU and UK supplied finished gasoline this year. These are the first Morocco-to-Russia gasoline shipments in Vortexa’s records dating to 2016.

The terminal is not new to this role. Only the direction is. Over 2023–2025, Russian diesel delivered to the same facility was re-exported to European Mediterranean ports as “Moroccan” product. The infrastructure that moved Russian fuel into Europe is likely moving European fuel into Russia.

South Korea: Record Volumes to Russia’s Far East

Eight tankers moved an estimated ~780,000 barrels of South Korean diesel and gasoline to Russia’s eastern ports over July–August — a record. Vessels ranged from small coastal tankers of 3,300 dwt to a 46,308 dwt MR tanker, on a mix of Russia-flagged, Hong Kong-flagged, and sanctioned tonnage.

Notable movements include:

• A Barbados-flagged tanker loaded ~340,000 barrels of finished gasoline at a Yeosu storage terminal and transferred it via STS at Yeosu on August 5 to an EU/UK-sanctioned vessel for delivery to Vladivostok.
• A Russia-flagged, EU/UK-sanctioned tanker carried ~89,000 barrels of diesel/gasoil from Ulsan/Onsan to Vladivostok.
• Four further Russia-flagged tankers, one Hong Kong-flagged tanker, and one Togo-flagged tanker made repeated voyages from Yeosu, Ulsan/Onsan, and Gunsan to Vladivostok, Magadan, Nakhodka, and Korsakov.

South Korea participates in the Russia sanctions coalition. Record volumes flowing to Russia’s Far East are likely to draw EU and UK government attention.

Why It Matters: Exposure Is Moving Upstream

EU and UK regulators have explicitly signalled intent to target the facilitators of sanctions evasion — traders, terminal operators, and insurers — alongside the shadow fleet itself.

There is currently no obligation for shipowners, charterers, and traders to demonstrate due diligence on the downstream use of their cargoes. But the flows documented here highlight the potential future exposure: EU/UK oil traders and tank storage operators whose product enters third-country blending infrastructure may find their cargoes surfacing at Russian ports. And their names surfacing in enforcement conversations.

Analysis by Michelle Wiese Bockmann, Senior Maritime Intelligence Analyst, Windward MIOC