US moves to lift sanctions on Russia's shadow fleet could undermine Western pressure on Moscow and help fund its war in Ukraine.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine , Moscow has increasingly relied on a so-called shadow fleet to bypass Western sanctions and transport its oil around the world. Other heavily sanctioned countries, including Iran and Venezuela, have also been accused of using such vessels to export petroleum products . These tankers often rely on deceptive practices like turning off their location transponders to evade detection and conceal the cargo's true origins or destinations. The fleet, which consists largely of aging, uninsured and poorly maintained tankers, has raised widespread concern across the shipping industry.