Indian refiner Nayara Energy, placed under European Union sanctions in July, has turned to a fleet of so-called shadow tankers to keep Russian crude coming in and refined fuels moving out, according to shipping data and LSEG trade-flow reports. The privately held company, 49% owned by Moscow-controlled entities including Rosneft, now relies on vessels that sail with transponders switched off, renamed hulls or opaque ownership structures, industry trackers said. Nayara controls roughly 8% of India’s 5.2 million-barrel-a-day refining capacity and normally supplies about 70% of its output to the domestic market. Since shippers and insurers withdrew after the EU sanctions, the Vadinar refinery in Gujarat has been forced to cut crude runs to an estimated 70-80% of capacity. This month alone the company has received at least seven cargoes of Russia’s flagship Urals grade—each about 700,000 barrels—aboard sanctioned vessels such as Centurion, Mars 6 and Pushpa, the data show. New Delhi maintains it follows only United Nations—not unilateral—sanctions, allowing Indian refiners to continue trade that skirts Western restrictions. The workaround keeps Russian barrels moving at discounted prices but has heightened geopolitical frictions: the Trump administration has warned it could impose tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Meanwhile, US crude exports are picking up as American refineries enter seasonal maintenance, adding further complexity to global flows reshaped by sanctions and shipping constraints.