The Greek tanker loaded with Russian oil caused protests and discussion in the Senate

The tanker flowing under the Greek flag wrapped to the port of Perth, on the west coast of Australia, causing protests throughout the country, because it is loaded with gas produced in India from Russian oil. The problem of celebrating sanctions by the Kremlin was raised on Friday in the Australian Senate.

Russia has found another way to avoid sanctions imposed by Western countries on its crude oil – it provides it with Indian refineries, where it is processed into diesel and gasoline, he goes to Australia, among others. In the first four months of 2025, this country imported oil products worth around $ 650 million from India – according to the data of the Helsinki Energy and Clean Air Research Center (Crea). Most of them probably came from Russian deliveries.

The Minister of the Australian defense industry, Paul Papalia, admitted in the past week that Russia can really celebrate sanctions and introduce its pus to the Australian market in “insidious ways”.

This problem was also noticed by the European Union, which recently imposed sanctions on the Indian refinery of Jamnagar, whose shareholder is Russian Rosneft. But Jamnagar, although one of the largest Indian state plants, is not the only one that supports Russia.

According to Reuters, although all Indian state refineries have suspended shopping in Russian oil in the past week and are currently looking for new sources in the Middle East, they are not the largest recipients of Russian raw material. They remain private companies in India, which undetermined sanctions still take Russian oil and later export it as Indian gas.

Australians protesting Indian transports “bloody pus” and demanded that the authorities immediately stop this import and turn back of the tanker mooring at their country.

But the Australian authorities claim that they can not do much, because the Greek ship did not violate the sanctions. He presented legal documentation confirming that it was loaded in India, not in Russia, and the determination of the source of gas origin is currently virtually impossible.

Protesters, who were supported by the Senator of Western Australia Fatima Payman, demanded the liquidation of these gaps. Speaking in the Australian Senate, she turned to the Foreign Minister Penny Wong: “Australians deserve the awareness that refueling their cars does not contribute to the war in Ukraine. Our values should not be undermined at gas stations.” She called the government to follow in the EU footsteps and send the border guard to prevent the unloading of Russian fuel.

Similarly, John Coyne, the Director of National Security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which, cited on Friday by the Australian portal ABC.NET, said that if Australia is to fully fulfill our commitment to apply sanctions, he must also ensure that “that we do not contribute to a system that filters Russian in India.” (PAP)

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