Russia's war with Ukraine is not profitable for Russian oligarchs or Russia itself yet it continues
Europe's response has been and continues to be nothing less than shambolic and shameful.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/24/eu-spends-more...
Yes, some Russian oil still makes its way to Europe, often through indirect routes. In 2023, the EU imported 130 million barrels of refined products from refineries processing Russian crude, adding about €1.1 billion in tax revenue to Russia (https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/fossil-gas/eu-pur...). The EU is working to close these loopholes.
Meanwhile, EU financial aid to Ukraine in 2024 stands at €18.7 billion, compared to €21.9 billion paid for Russian fossil fuels (https://energyandcleanair.org/publication/eu-imports-of-russ...). But military support tells a different story: the EU and member states have committed €48.7 billion in military aid, including tanks, air-defense systems, and fighter jets (https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/military-support...).
The claim that Europe is buying more from Russia than it’s giving Ukraine ignores the scale of military aid and the long-term shift away from Russian energy. It’s not perfect, but it’s far from "shambolic."
1) Rapid identification and localization of breaks, so military/police forces can be dispatched to the area.
2) Continuous deployment of MQ-9B SeaGuardian or HALE UAV platforms around shallow cable runs to locate and id dark ships, who would also be running nav beacons before and after.
3) Low-earth-orbit persistent sensing networks (e.g. what's now called PWSA [0]) with ship id'ing sensor packages.
As parent notes though, the lynchpin of this is inverting the cost:benefit ratio to be unfavorable, by raising the likelihood that ships will be detained and ultimately seized.
Even oligarchs don't like to light money on fire.
[0] https://spacenews.com/space-force-preparing-for-the-age-of-p...