New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) India imported about 144 billion euros' worth of crude oil from Russia since the start of the Ukraine war, a European think tank said on Tuesday, estimating the Kremlin's cumulative earnings from global oil sales since February 2022 at around 1 trillion euros.

India has been the second-largest buyer of Russian oil behind China, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

China bought Euro 210.3 billion worth of Russian oil since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, and another Euro 42.7 billion worth of coal and Euro 40.6 billion worth of gas. China's total buy from the beginning of the war until January 3, 2026, was Euro 293.7 billion.

India, on the other hand, bought Euro 162.5 billion worth of fossil fuels - Euro 143.88 billion worth of oil and Euro 18.18 billion worth of coal - from Russia, CREA said.

The European Union spent Euro 218.1 billion on buying Russian fossil fuels - Euro 106.3 billion in oil, Euro 3.5 billion on coal and Euro 108.2 billion on gas.

"As of January 2026, Russia has earned 1 trillion euros and counting from global fossil fuel sales since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, revenue that continues to fund displacement, destruction, and death in Ukraine," CREA said.

In response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, G7 countries (the US, the UK, Canada, Japan, Italy, France and Germany) and the EU have imposed sanctions and export controls against Russia.

However, these restrictions do not derive from any UN Security Council resolution and several countries, including China, India, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Saudi Arabia, do not support unilateral sanctions against Russia. Turkey, a NATO Member State, and Serbia, an EU candidate country, have also refused to implement sanctions.

Russian oil has continued to flow into the EU, mainly to Hungary and Slovakia, CREA said, adding that sanctioning countries also continue to boost Russian revenues by allowing products refined from Russian crude to continue entering their shores.

"The trade flourishes because of Russia's ability to expand markets for its oil, grow its ageing, dangerous shadow fleet, and funnel large volumes of unsanctioned gas to Ukraine's allies in the EU. EU imports consist of one-fifth of this one trillion. Russian gas is the major share of it," it said.

The European Union's imports of Russian fossil fuels have steadily declined since the December 2022 embargo on Russian crude oil and the February 2023 embargo on Russian refined products.

Some countries were provided derogations to import Russian crude via the Druzhba pipeline. As of September 2025, only two EU countries - Hungary and Slovakia - have continued to import Russian oil. Russian gas remains unsanctioned.

India, the world's third-largest oil importer, emerged as the biggest buyer of discounted Russian crude after Western countries shunned Moscow following its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Traditionally reliant on Middle Eastern oil, India dramatically increased Russian imports as sanctions and reduced European demand made the barrels available at steep discounts, pushing its share from under 1 per cent to nearly 40 per cent of total crude imports.

Russia supplied about 35 per cent of all crude oil that India imported, ahead of fresh sanctions the US imposed on two of Russia's leading oil exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil, coming into effect from November 22, 2025.

Russia's share in Indian oil purchases has since dropped to less than 25 per cent and may dip further this month, as the primary buyer, Reliance Industries, shunned Russian oil.

India's daily purchases of Russian oil from non-sanctioned entities were around Euro 72.92 million at the beginning of January, down from 130.49 million euros in end November and peak of 189.07 million euros in July 2023, according to CREA.

Following the new US sanctions, companies such as Reliance, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd have halted imports of Russian oil for now.

However, other refiners, such as Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), continue to buy from non-sanctioned Russian entities. Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy, which the EU has already sanctioned, continues to purchase oil from Rosneft and other Russian sellers.

While the European Union has banned the import of fuel made from Russian oil, Australia, Canada, and the US have yet to announce a ban on oil products made from Russian crude.

Reliance used to export fuel to Europe and has since announced the end of using Russian oil to produce fuel for exports. PTI ANZ DRR

India imported large volumes of discounted Russian oil despite sanctions; some refiners halted purchases after new US measures. India became a major purchaser of discounted Russian crude and coal after February 2022, buying approximately 162.5 billion in fossil fuels through January 2026; continued trade was enabled by price discounts, a growing shadow fleet, and sales via non sanctioned entities despite G7 and EU restrictions, while recent US secondary sanctions led some major Indian refiners to pause purchases from sanctioned exporters but other refiners continue buying.