Between October 2025 and June 2026, European and Western countries implemented a crackdown on the Russian 'shadow fleet' of aging, poorly insured oil tankers sailing under false flags to evade international sanctions. The enforcement actions have forced many of these vessels to re-flag under the Russian registry, reducing the number flying false flags from a peak of 101 to 45, while the Russian registry surged 36% to 382 vessels. European navies, including French, Swedish, Belgian, UK, and an EU naval mission, boarded and detained shadow fleet ships in territorial waters based on legal grounds of false flag usage and poor maritime standards. Open ship registries such as Panama and Comoros tightened oversight or removed sanctioned vessels under Western pressure. The shadow fleet uses deceptive measures such as ship-to-ship transfers to circumvent G7/EU price caps on Russian oil shipments, undermining sanctions and supporting Russia's hybrid war efforts against Europe. However, Russian flag adoption renders these ships immune to European enforcement, challenging sanctions' effectiveness.

Between October 2025 and June 2026, European and Western countries implemented a crackdown on the Russian 'shadow fleet' of aging, poorly insured oil tankers sailing under false flags to evade international sanctions. The enforcement actions have forced many of these vessels to re-flag under the Russian registry, reducing the number flying false flags from a peak of 101 to 45, while the Russian registry surged 36% to 382 vessels. European navies, including French, Swedish, Belgian, UK, and an EU naval mission, boarded and detained shadow fleet ships in territorial waters based on legal grounds of false flag usage and poor maritime standards. Open ship registries such as Panama and Comoros tightened oversight or removed sanctioned vessels under Western pressure. The shadow fleet uses deceptive measures such as ship-to-ship transfers to circumvent G7/EU price caps on Russian oil shipments, undermining sanctions and supporting Russia's hybrid war efforts against Europe. However, Russian flag adoption renders these ships immune to European enforcement, challenging sanctions' effectiveness.