PRESS RELEASE : A group of Ukrainian and international experts is tracking the transportation of Russian oil to prevent Russia from circumventing sanctions

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 15 April 2022.

A group of Ukrainian and international experts analyzing the real impact of sanctions against Russia is tracking Russian oil tankers through network analysis software. This was stated by Adviser to the President of Ukraine on economic issues Oleg Ustenko in a comment for The Economist.

Experts are tracking energy supply routes, thanks to which “Russia is desperately trying to finance its military machine.”

Information for the group is provided by both international experts and government officials from other countries and even intelligence.

In addition, the team uses network analysis software to establish the relationship between disparate data.

The program analyzes the behavior of ships, taking into account various information. For example, the declared cargo, route and insurance data, as well as historical models of navigation in different weather and market conditions. You can even see the tonnage of the cargo on board the ship and see if there is a suspicion that there may be more cargo on board than stated.

A group of experts has already managed to identify supplies of Kazakh oil, which they believe contain portions of clandestinely loaded Russian crude, says Oleg Ustenko.

Warnings are sent to relevant governments and companies, as well as to Ukrainian ministries.

A more recently developed approach uses satellites in low orbits to hoover up signals from shipborne radars. These are used for navigation and to avoid collisions, so mariners are disinclined to switch them off. Fancy software for signal processing geolocates the signals’ sources, at times within just several hundred meters.