Ukraine will reportedly begin curbing its imports of diesel fuel from India beginning next month, due to India’s insistence on buying huge amounts of discounted Russian crude oil.
The policy change was announced on Monday by Ukraine’s SBU security service, which formally notified the Energy Customs department to begin limiting imports of Indian diesel on October 1.
Ukrainian energy consultancy Enkorr also announced the October 1 deadline on Monday. Enkorr cautioned that the SBU and other Ukrainian security agencies will require all consignments of Indian diesel fuel to be tested by laboratories to ensure they do not contain Russian crude.
Ukraine’s primary sources of diesel fuel prior to the 2022 Russian invasion were Russia and Belarus. Ukraine’s already limited production of refined fuel was hindered even further in June 2025, when a Russian airstrike damaged the oil refinery at Kremenchuk. The finery was hit again in August by a combination of Russian cruise missiles and drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strikes as an unacceptable attack on civilian energy infrastructure. The Russian Defense Ministry argued Kremenchuk, and other refineries, were legitimate targets because they supplied fuel to the Ukrainian military.
The Kremenchuk facility obtained most of its crude oil from Azerbaijan, whose relationship with Russia deteriorated considerably over the summer. The Trump administration stepped in to negotiate peace between Azerbaijan and its longtime rival Armenia, another disaffected former Russian ally.
As part of this regional realignment, Ukraine has been negotiating a major deal for gas imports from Azerbaijan. Ukraine made several test imports of Azeri gas earlier this year. The Russians have been doing what they can to (literally) blow up the deal, including strikes on oil depots in Ukraine owned by Azerbaijan’s state energy firm, SOCAR.
With Kremenchuk out of commission, Ukraine turned to massive imports of diesel fuel from India. According to Enkorr, Ukraine obtained about 18 percent of its diesel fuel from India last month.
Russia currently supplies about 36 percent of India’s crude oil imports, an arrangement that has caused a great deal of tension with Ukraine and the United States, because India’s huge oil purchases are helping Russia resist sanctions that could end the war.
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