Russian Shadow Fleet Continues to Operate Despite Sanctions
As of March 10, 2026, the network of the Russian shadow fleet numbered 1341 ships. Of them 886 are under sanctions from various countries, but a significant portion continues to operate on routes transporting Russian oil. From December 2025 to March 2026, the US, India and EU countries detained at least 14 ships, including three suspected of transporting Russian oil. In particular, last week the Swedish Coast Guard detained the tanker Sea Owl, and its captain was arrested.
Captains who agree to transport Russian oil to circumvent sanctions are responsible for violating international law, as they do so knowingly. Evidence of this are the materials of correspondence from the Russian captain Denys Protsenko, which the investigative desk obtained from the hacker-activist group “256th Cyber Assault Division”. The documents contain hundreds of letters, official documents and contracts. We cross-referenced these data with open sources, ship registries, sanctions lists and reconstructed the involvement of Ukrainian and Russian crews in the shadow fleet routes.
Captain’s Role in Shadow Fleet Revealed
Six days after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Denys Protsenko signed a document renouncing claims against the employer in case of death due to war. That same week he boarded an oil tanker of a Norwegian company in the Russian port of Ust-Luga. Over three years he captained at least four tankers that transported Russian oil and later came under sanctions by the United States, the EU and other countries.
The last known contract Protsenko signed was on October 14, 2025 – for a tanker that was already under sanctions by the EU and five other states. In December 2025 sanctions were imposed on him by Ukraine. As of March 2026, the tanker continues its voyage and is heading to India from Primorsk.
Career Before the Full-Scale Invasion: Origins and Early Steps
Denys Protsenko was born on July 18, 1979, in Nakhodka, Primorsky Krai. He signed his first contract in 2002 on an oil tanker. In 2011 he earned a Master’s license and captained his first tanker. By 2022 he had worked on ships owned by American, Singaporean, Latvian and Omani companies. His route networks most often ran through the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia, the ports of the United States and Africa. In the 2025 resume, he listed 14 years of tanker command experience.
In December 2021, Vladivostok-based Primorsk Shipping offered Protsenko the position of captain on the Front Lynx tanker of the Norwegian shipowner Frontline. The tanker was to carry oil from Ust-Luga to a Baltic port. At that time the captain was also preparing to work in polar waters and was undergoing an ice navigation course.
First Wave of Contracts and Crew Changes
In March 2022, after the invasion began, many international carriers halted cooperation with Russia. The tanker sector differed from others: some Greek companies continued operating until November 2023 but were forced to bow to US sanctions pressure.
Frontline stated it complied with sanctions legislation regarding Russian vessels, but acknowledged that one cargo from Russia was transported under a contractual obligation. Likely, that voyage was the route commanded by Protsenko.
Crew change on Front Lynx was planned for February 14, 2023, but due to the ongoing war, the company decided not to replace the captain at that time.
Original Article: Hackers leak reveals captain’s role in shadow fleet oil shipments, tanker captain arrested — Mezha