Rystad, an energy consultancy company, said Russia amassed another 103 tankers to add to its fleet this year through purchases and the reallocation of ships servicing Iran and Venezuela.

Russia assembled what the industry described as the “shadow fleet” in a bid to counter new sanctions.

EU strikes deal on oil price cap to starve Russia’s war machine in Ukraine

The EU imposed a ban on Russia’s seaborne exports of oil which takes effect on Monday, and reached a deal to cap Russian crude at U$S60 a barrel after Poland tried to save it at just US$30. The cap aims to let India and China buy the oil but stop Moscow from making big profits on it.

However, the Kremlin has said it would not sell oil to countries enforcing the cap, potentially strengthening its relationships with countries more sympathetic to Putin including India, China and Turkey.

Anoop Singh, head of tanker research at Braemar, told the Financial Times that the new tankers, bought anonymously, are generally 12 to 15 years old and would be expected to be scrapped in the next few years. “These are buyers that we, as long-standing brokers, are not familiar with. We are confident that most these vessels are destined for Russia,” he said.

Analysts estimate a shortfall as Russia still needs more tankers to maintain its export levels, according to the report. Singh said Braemer expects exports to fall by between 700,000 and 1.5 million barrels a day, while Rystad estimates 200,000 barrels.

Rystad analyst Viktor Kurilov told the newspaper: “Russia needs more than 240 tankers to keep its current exports flowing.”

A Kremlin spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Putin U-turn allows safe passage for Ukrainian grain just days after exports were blocked

Putin U-turn allows safe passage for Ukrainian grain just days after exports were blocked

Ukraine has lost at least US$1 billion of wheat that was harvested in areas controlled by Russia, according to research using satellite imagery from Nasa’s food security and agriculture programme.

The analysis gives an idea of what’s happening in occupied territories, where information is tightly controlled. It uses a machine-learning model detecting texture and colour changes based on a time-series of satellite images to map where crops have been harvested or left unharvested.

Almost 6 million tons of wheat was collected from areas not under Ukrainian control, according to Nasa Harvest. About 88 per cent of the winter crops planted in occupied areas were harvested, while unharvested areas were mainly along the front line.

The research raises the question of what is happening to those crops. Russian ships have been exporting grain likely taken from occupied areas to countries including Libya and Iran, but it’s difficult to estimate the volumes involved as shippers are obscuring the origin of the cargoes. Russia has denied stealing grain, but officials have publicly touted the resumption of grain shipments from occupied ports.

Wheat cannot be ‘weapon of war’, Pope says, urging lifting of Ukraine block

Ukraine is a major wheat exporter and the blockade of its ports after Russia’s invasion sent prices soaring, potentially making smuggling grain more lucrative. A deal allowing Ukraine to resume exports helped ease grain prices, but they still remain historically high.

Almost a quarter of Ukraine’s wheat is grown on land Russia claims to have annexed, though some of that territory is controlled by Ukraine. Nasa Harvest’s estimates are for wheat and so far exclude other crops or foodstuffs that were held in storage. The findings do not indicate what happened to the crops after they were harvested.

The Nasa Harvest team calculated that farmers harvested 26.6 million tons of wheat this year in Ukraine, several million tons more than other leading forecasts.

The top prosecutor in Switzerland – a leading commodity-trading hub – has warned that the commercialisation of looted raw materials could constitute a war crime.

Major Ukraine grower HarvEast said that all the winter crops it planted on its land in the Donetsk region had been collected by occupying forces this summer.

“This year, winter wheat gave a very high yield for this region due to favourable weather conditions,” Chief Executive Officer Dmitry Skornyakov said. “Everything that was harvested on our fields was stolen and exported from Ukraine.”